For Love
by Pemuldaby
Summary: All Ino's ever wanted was to marry for love. Now it seems impossible.
1. Promises

Urgh… I hate disclaimerS beyond belief….

_**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO AND THE CHARACTERS. THEY BELONG TO MASASHI KISHIMOTO!**_

"Father…! You can't!" Deidara and I cried at the same time.

Their father merely rose an eyebrow, "Why can't I? Deidara is already engaged to a woman of his choice. Because of that Ino, it is your responsibility as a princess to be married off to a prince of a neighboring country."

"But why, Father? You said I could marry for love instead of being in an arranged marriage! You promised!" I exclaimed desperately.

"Promises are meant to be broken," my father stated coldly. Then, in a softer tone, he tried to explain, "Deidara would be in your position, but he is already engaged, and I cannot take that away from him. It is not right, and it would not be fair."

I stared at my feet. It wasn't Deidara's fault that he fell in love with someone before me; he is older then me by a few years. But it wasn't _fair_. I mean, Father _promised_ me that he wouldn't have me put in an arranged marriage; he would have me marry for love. That is, if I ever fell in love like my brother. I looked at Deidara. I think he's taking the news as bad as I am. He may not show it, but he really does care for me, and is quite overprotective when it comes to boys. _Older brothers… _I sighed again, feeling a little depressed. Okay, maybe more then a little.

"Father, I would like to talk to Ino in private for a few minutes," Deidara announced.

Father just nodded and left the room.

My brother walked towards me and pulled me into a _very_ tight hug. Not that I minded. I hugged him as tightly as I could while I choked back a sob; I was not going to cry right now. I'll do the bawling in the privacy of my room with only my best friend and personal servant, Tenten, for company.

"Oh Ino…" Deidara murmured in a soothing tone, "I feel so guilty…"

_This_ is why Deidara's the best brother in the world. He doesn't tell me that everything will be all right and sugarcoat the truth for me. No. He isn't that kind of person, and that's why I love him.

I shook my head vigorously, "_Don't_ say that you feel guilty for falling in love. It's not your fault that love came to you first. Besides, we both knew this day was going to happen…even though Father promised let marry for love. Oh, and if you say guilty for falling in love, _I'll make sure that you will regret it_."

Deidara chuckled at my threat as he rubbed my back to soothe me even more, "I won't say that again, I swear."

Good. He didn't use "promise".

"Deidara…"

"Hmm?"

"Why did Father do this to me? He knows that all I've ever wanted was to marry for love, and now he throws me into this?! Why?!"

"To tell the truth Ino, I really don't know."

I couldn't hold the tears any longer. Gripping my older brother's shirt, I cried and soaked it. My brother just stood there, letting me bawl my eyes out. I don't _care_ if my eyes are red and puffy afterward. I don't _care_ if I ruin my brother's shirt. I don't _care, _I don't _care, _I don't _care!_

"I thought Father loved me…I really did!" I rambled, "I tried to be the best little girl I could for him…but it never seems to be enough! He's always comparing me to someone else like Haruno…why Deidara, why do I deserve this?"

My brother remained silent; I think he feels so _helpless_, but it isn't his fault.

"Deidara…don't you dare feel bad when I say this…but I'm so jealous of you…! You managed to find someone to share your life with; I have no one…. All the men attempt to court me, but it's only for my status or looks! _You're_ the one that courts the other women. They don't have to fear you because you have no evil in your heart, unlike some of the men who have attempted to woo me."

Deidara's hold on her tightened as she went on.

"Big brother…all I've ever wanted was to fall in love with someone who loved me for who I truly am. Is that a lot to ask for…?"

Deidara stroked my hair, knowing that it would calm me down a little, as his grip on me tightened even more. It felt nice to know that someone in the world is still there for you when everything else crashes down. The thing is…Deidara won't always be there for me. He's engaged, and he'll be spending more time with his betrothed…I'll miss him a lot. His fiancée is _so_ lucky that she's marrying him….

I felt my waterworks shut down, and I released my hold on my brother's shirt. He just kept his arms around me as I started to sniffle.

"Tha-a-nks, Dei-i-dara,"

"No biggie. Besides, what are older brothers for?"

I grinned, "They're for torturing, doing experiments on, annoying…"

Deidara rolled his eyes at my immaturity. So what if I'm an almost grown woman (17), but still a girl at heart? It's not _my_ problem.

"Really, Deidara, thanks for being here,"

Deidara snarled, "I know that already, but Father is such a bastard to have you in an arranged marriage! He knows that all you've ever wanted was to marry for love…!"

Smiling wistfully, I said, "I agree with you…but he's still our father."

"By the way, do you know who your betrothed is?" Deidara questioned.

"Umm…now that I think about it, I don't believe Father ever got the chance to tell us you my fiancé is…"

"That's pretty sad if you ask me…."

"Hey! It's not my fault…!"

"Riight."

I pouted, "Meanie."

Deidara laughed, and then asked, "Who could be your fiancé?"

"Uh, the only men that I know are the Sand brothers, Hinata's cousin, Shikamaru, Uzumaki Naruto, the Uchiha brothers, and the Inuzuka's son. There may be some others, but that's all I can think of right now."

"Okay. It can't be the elder Uchiha, he's engaged to the Inuzuka's sister. I really doubt that it's the Hyuuga heir…nobody can force him to do _anything._ The Inuzukas aren't the kind of people who support arranged marriages; they're extremely loyal to each other, so I doubt it will be the Inuzuka."

"That leaves the younger Uchiha, Uzumaki Naruto, the Sand brothers, and Shikamaru."

"It can't be Shikamaru. The last time I saw him, he told me that he was courting the Sand brothers' sister, Temari."

My breathing relaxed after that. Thank _God_. It's not that I like him or anything, it's just I see him as a brother and he sees me as a younger sister that acts like an older one. Besides, he's so lazy! I don't think I'd survive if I married him…

"You seem happy," My brother observed.

"Of course I am! Shika sees me as a sister, and I see him as another older brother! To marry Shikamaru would be like marrying you! Do you _know_ how terrifying that is?"

Deidara winced playfully at the terrifying part, "I'm not _that_ bad, am I?"

"Dear brother, you are,"

Deidara just brushed it off and focused his attention at the more important matter, "So there's the younger Uchiha, Uzumaki Naruto, and the Sand brothers."

"No."

"No?"

"No, as in Uzumaki Naruto isn't a possible choice." I clarified.

"Really? I never knew that…"

"That's because Hinata and Naruto are keeping it a secret."

"If it's supposed to be a secret, then how come you know?"

"That's because Hinata told me asked me to keep it a secret."

"So you technically just revealed their secret to me?"

"I did…? OH MY GOODNESS!"

My brother just smirked.

I turned around and started to beg, "Please don't tell anyone, please! I'll do _anything_, just please don't tell anyone! God, Deidara, ple-"

"Anything?"

I stiffened slightly. The last time I had begged like that and used that line did not end well for me…

Deidara burst out into laughter as he saw the fear run through my eyes, "Really, Ino. Did you really think that I was going to reveal their secret like you did?"

"You…!"

"Enough about me. Now, why does Naruto and Hinata want to keep it a secret?"

"Hinata never told me. I think it's because Naruto doesn't want to face the interrogations of Hinata's father and cousin. From what I've heard, they're quite protective of her."

"Hmm. Interesting. That leaves us with the younger Uchiha and the Sand brothers."

"Uh…do you know anything about the last few possibilities?"

"If you're going to be betrothed to one of the Sand brothers, I think it'll be to the younger one."

"Ehh…? I thought the father's position was passed down to the oldest son…?"

"No, according to Sasori, the older one is not ready to take his father's place when he dies. On the other hand, the younger one in much more mature, and it is only reasonable that he becomes the new Lord."

"Oh…. Well, how old is he?"

"…Seriously, Ino?"

"I'm sorry! He's the younger one, and it would feel extremely weird for me to marry someone who's younger then me…"

"Well, once again, according to my best friend Sasori, the younger brother is 18 years of age, older then you by one year."

I thought about that for a moment before asking another question, "Deidara, how come you keep referring them as 'older brother' and 'younger brother'? What are their names?"

Deidara thought about it and answered, "The older one is Kankuro, and the younger one is Gaara."

I nodded, and then stated, "Well, then that leaves the two younger brothers – Uchiha Sasuke and Gaara!"

Deidara looked at me quizzically, "You seem so happy for someone in an arranged marriage…"

I shrugged, "This is the only thing I can do. I'm tied to it. I can't escape it."

"Do you want me to send a servant to fetch Tenten to really make you happy?"

My eyes gleamed in delight when my brother mentioned my best friend, "Oh, yes please! Thank you Deidara!"

"Anything for your happiness, little sister," my brother stated softly.

Oh, I'm really going to miss him when he marries and starts a family of his own…

"Yamanaka-san?" the servant called out.

"Yes?"

"Tenten is-"

I ran to the door and threw it open, revealing a very surprised servant and a grinning Tenten, "Come in, Tenten. You can go back to whatever you were doing," I told the servant, who nodded his head in return and bowing in respect before he left.

Once the doors were firmly shut, I turned around and pounced in Tenten, "TENTEN! I haven't seen you since this morning!"

Her eyes glittered in happiness, but quickly turned dark and serious, "Ino, you never interact with each other when we're outside your room. Tell me, what's wrong?"

The dreadful depressed feeling was replaced by cheeriness of seeing Tenten when she asked that question. I saw Deidara shoot a concerned look at me, but I just shook my head, telling him through my actions that I was okay. He just nodded once in my direction and sat down in one of the chairs in the room.

"Well…" tears started to form in my eyes again.

Tenten's beautiful earthy orbs filled with worry as she looked at me, "Ino…"

I managed to crack a smile, "I'm okay; I just need to collect myself." I took a deep breath and told her, "I have an arranged marriage."

Tenten stared at me in shock, "No…"

I smiled, but it was an extremely bitter one, "Yes."

Tenten glanced at Deidara to confirm it, and when she saw him nod…

"Tenten, you are so lucky…you aren't forced into loveless marriages because of your status…"

"Really…?" she questioned.

"Yes."

Deidara interjected, "Now, Tenten. You're probably wondering who Ino is betrothed to. To tell the truth, we don't know it ourselves. But Ino and I have narrowed it down to two people."

"Yes. We narrowed it down to two people." I echoed.

"Well, who are the two?" Tenten asked.

"Uchiha Sasuke and Gaara." My brother and revealed in unison.

Her brows furrowed as she thought.

Hmm. I wonder what she's thinking about…

"That's it! According to my fellow servants, the younger Uchiha is to be engaged with a princess – but they didn't say who." Tenten exclaimed.

"The younger Uchiha…?" I started.

"Yeah. At least that's what I've heard…"

"I think Tenten may be right. I overheard a couple of our maids crying because Uchiha Sasuke was now engaged…" Deidara said.

No. This cannot be possible. It just _cannot._


	2. Three Days

NO! NOT ANOTHER DISCLAIMER…!!!!

I don't own Naruto and the characters…they belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I don't think I own anything… :'(

I'm currently in my room with Tenten while Deidara is with his fiancée, and it seems as if Father attended another council meeting. I have a bad feeling about whom I'm about to be betrothed too…

"Tenten, do you ever wish that you were a princess?"

Glancing up from her sewing, she responded, "No, not really. But that's only because I'm a princess's best friend, so I'm treated like one when I'm around the princess. Besides, being a princess is just so…ugh. You never get any privacy, people always butt their empty heads into your business, men attempt to court you to gain the throne, you always have to act proper when you're not alone, you're not allowed to play pranks, you have to listen to your parents, you can't trust people that easily, you don't have many close friends…the list goes on and on."

I mulled about her answer. She was right about all those things. Well, I still pull some tricks on Deidara even though I'm not supposed to… As a little girl, I was proud of being a princess. You could order servants around, get anything you want that you could get with money, nobody could insult you, nobody would purposely harm you…like the last list, this one also goes on and on. But I was so vain and naive when I was a young child. Now I wouldn't hesitate to trade places with and ordinary peasant girl. Sure, you had to work, but you had the freedom to fall in love with whomever you choose to, and you had the much needed privacy. You also wouldn't have the HUGE burden of being the princess of a country. Why are there statuses in life? It would make everything so much simpler if there weren't any.

I looked at Tenten to see her stitching something. Curious, I got up from my lying position on the bed and walked over to Tenten. There was a full moon toward the top-left of the circle, and a field of flowers. That was all. Confused, I looked at Tenten; her work was usually so much more detailed and _more_, if you get what I'm saying. This, a full moon and a field of flowers was just not Tenten.

"You're confused, aren't you, Ino?"

I smiled a little. Tenten has always been able to read me like an open book, no matter when or where we are. "Yes, Tenten. Of course I'm confused."

Her eyes twinkled, "It's for a friend."

Now I was beyond mystified. Tenten has a friend other then me? I don't mean it in a 'Tenten is so hopeless, she doesn't even have any friends' kind of way. It's just that Tenten rarely goes out and interacts with others, so it's a bit surprising to know that she has another friend. "Oh? What's her name?"

She wavered a bit before answering, "It's supposed to be a secret."

Okay. I'm confused, mystified, and now extremely angry. What does she mean be secret? I'm her darn best friend! And she keeps her friend's name a _secret _from me?! What kind of a best friend is she…?!

Tenten's gaze softened when she saw the tormented expression on my face, "Ino…it's for the best. Please."

I caved in. Tenten rarely asked me to do a favor of any sort for her, so…it's only right to give her this one. "Fine. But you'll tell me someday, right?"

Tenten replied, "Of course. But now is not the time, okay, Ino?"

I nodded, content with her answer. But still…you could her mystery friend be…?

I stared out the window, thinking about my future. Uchiha Sasuke is engaged, but nobody knows to whom. And there's the slight possibility that it might be me. Oh dear. I really don't want to marry him…the last I checked, Haruno was infatuated with him, and she'd kill me if I was his fiancée. Hmm. Guess I'll have to ask Father when he comes back. Wonder how Hinata and Naruto are doing right now…

There was a sudden knocking on my door, and a servant called out, "Princess Yamanaka, Prince Yamanaka wishes to see and talk to you."

Snapping out of thoughts, I merely said, "Please tell him that will be down as soon as I can. Thank you." Ugh. I _hate_ being formal with passion. Lucky Tenten…I'm extremely jealous of her right now.

*~*

"Deidara…I don't want to do this…" I muttered as soon as I got to my brother's room.

"Ino…you have no idea how much I detest Father and this arranged marriage he set you up in. You don't deserve it. If only there was some way to get you out of this…"

"Run away?" I suggested.

"Hmm…you know, that might work…" Deidara mused.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, not really."

"But what about you? I can't leave you or Tenten! If I do run away, both your reputation and Father's will be ruined because of me!"

"I can come along. So can Tenten."

"What about your fiancée?"

"She'll come along if she really loves me."

"Deidara," I started seriously, "I am not going to run away. Father will track me down in no time, and then we'll be in for a grand punishment. I really don't want you to suffer along with me."

My brother protested, "But you can't be placed into that arranged marriage!"

"I'll get out of it. I promise."

"But what if your fiancé is Uchiha Sasuke? How will you get out of that? We both know that his parents are extremely powerful, and we'll be in a lot of trouble if you decline."

"Thing is Deidara, I can't decline; I think Father offered Uchiha my hand."

"WHAT?!"

"Well, that's what I think happened. I mean, I kept on rejecting all those suitors, so I think Father's pretty desperate to marry me off so I won't become a spinster. And I'm the only princess around here; Haruno's a Lady. So… "

"But you just turned 17 two months ago! Lady Haruno is going to kill you when she finds out that your fiancé is Uchiha Sasuke!"

"I know. If I had the choice, I wouldn't marry until I found true love. But I can't fantasize anymore, can I? This is reality, and I've got to face it." I smile bitterly.

"It's not fair, Ino," my brother said, "It's not fair that you have to be forced into an arranged marriage while I get to marry for love. Our places should've been switched around…why you, Ino? Why?"

"I don't know. I don't know what I did to have Father act like this."

"Enough talk about this." Deidara declared, "It's too depressing for a cheerful man like me."

I scoffed. Then I remembered something that I needed to ask Deidara, "Deidara, do you know anybody who might be Tenten's friend?"

"First off, why?"

"When we were in my room, she was stitching something, and she said it was for her friend. She wouldn't tell me whom it was for. It's odd for Tenten to hold a secret like that."

"Well, to answer your question, I don't know anybody who might be Tenten's friend."

"Oh. Okay."

"Hey, don't worry too much about it. Considering that fact that it's Tenten, I'm pretty sure she has a good reason for keeping a secret."

"But doesn't she trust me?"

"Like I said, Ino. She probably has a good reason for keeping a secret. Trust Tenten to do the right thing, okay?"

"Okay." I just needed the reassurance that Tenten was doing the right thing. I've probably said this a million times already, but I am so lucky to have Deidara as a brother.

*~*

"Ino, I need to talk to you," my father said as soon as he came out of the meeting room. "I'm guessing that you want to know who your fiancé is, right?"

I just nodded my head.

"Well, he's-"

"Uchiha Sasuke." I stated, finishing his statement for him.

"Ho-ow did you know?"

Just because I'm blonde doesn't mean I'm stupid! Okay, so I have my "blonde" moments from time to time, but still! "I figured it out on my own." I explained, not wanting to go into the details.

"Well, now that you know your fiancé, we are going to go meet him in three days. So get your stuff packed and ready."

What?! Three days?! My father has got to be kidding me! I just replied with a tight, "Yes, Father," and left.

*~*

"WHAT?!" Deidara screamed.

I winced. My brother is a very loud screamer. "Yes, Deidara Father is having me meet me fiancé in three days."

"THAT BASTARD…!"

"No need to swear," I commented mildly.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?! You're going to be meeting your forced fiancé in three days, and you're telling me not to swear?! Ino, have you gone delusional?!"

"What I meant was that swearing won't help. Father's got his mind set on me marrying the Uchiha, and we can't change that. And brother, I am perfectly sane."

Deidara sighed softly. I feel so bad…this is my problem and it's putting stress on him…! That's not supposed to happen! Ugh…sometimes, I wish my brother wasn't so understanding…

"Look on the bright side," I exclaimed with fake cheerfulness, "I'll be able to meet some new Ladies like Inuzuka Hana since she's the fiancée of Uchiha Itachi."

My brother saw right through my act. I _know_ he did. But I wasn't exactly lying. I am looking forward to meeting Inuzuka Hana; she must be something if _the_ Uchiha Itachi proposed to her by his own will! I can't wait to meet her! Then again…that's the only thing that I'm looking forward to…

My brother forced a smile, "I hope you don't encounter any problems there, Ino. I won't be there to correct them."

"Hey! I'm perfectly capable of fixing problems by myself!"

He just rolled his eyes. Ugh. Deidara is just so annoying sometimes…how did he get a fiancée again?

"Just be careful and don't get in trouble, Ino."

I smiled softly, "I'll try – there's no guarantees."

*~*

Tenten only gazed at me solemnly when I told her what my father said. Finally, she spoke, "I should be able to come with you, right?"

I looked at her as if she had gone insane, "Of course you're coming! I would've smuggled you along even if Father ordered that I couldn't bring you with me! What are you; and idiot?!"

Tenten chuckled at my antics, "Just checking…!"

I laughed along with her. "You're _still_ an idiot."

"Hey…!"

We both fell onto my bed, giggling like mad. It felt great to this with Tenten. This may be the last chance I get to do this with her…stupid arranged marriages!

"Tenten?"

"Yes?"

"What will happen once I get married to Uchiha Sasuke?"

She looked as if she was going to crack a joke, but when she saw the serious gleam in my eyes, she answered, "Ino…I think you already know. You _know_ why there are arranged marriages in the first place."

I sighed, "I know, I know. It's to gain power…and to keep that power going, the Uchiha and I will have to produce a heir."

Tenten gazed at me tenderly, "Oh Ino…" She knows that I want my true love to my first _everything_. First kiss, the one to take away my innocence, and all that. Now my dream is never going to come true.

She interrupted my thoughts, "Who knows, maybe you'll grow to love Uchiha Sasuke…" That's never going to happen; I know that Tenten knows that she's just lying to herself. I'll _never_ love him…I know it. I'll find my one and only true love myself; I don't need my father's help. I _will_ find him. I just don't know when.

Once again, something interrupted my thoughts; there was somebody knocking on the door. I'll bet it's Deidara. Tenten got up to open the door, revealing my brother.

He walked into my room calmly before asking, "Guess what?"

I tilted my head in curiosity, "What?"

"Well, since you're a pretty important princess and the Uchihas are one of the grandest and most noble family line there is, there will be a bunch of other people at the castle when you arrive."

Tenten questioned, "Like who?"

"Hmm…the Uzumakis, Inuzukas, Naras, and the family of the Sand are going to be present when you and Ino arrive at the Uchiha's castle."

"Anybody else?"

"Let's see…oh! How could I forget? The Hyuugas will definitely be there!" Deidara exclaimed as we heard footsteps in the hallway of my room. I think I saw Tenten stiffen a little.

"This is just fantastic!" I exclaimed in a very sarcastic voice, "Just splendid!"

My best friend and brother looked at me in dry amusement. Then Deidara said, "I think I have some good news too…"

"This better be good…" I muttered.

"My fiancée and I are coming too!"

"…What about the kingdom?" Tenten and I asked in one voice.

"Hmm…I don't know if this is good or bad news for you, but Father is going to stay and look over the kingdom," Deidara explained.

"Oh…. Anything else you wanted to tell me?"

"Hmm…no, I think that's all."

"Well then," I declared, clapping my hands, "Let's get packing!"

Once again, my best friend and brother just stared at me, "…Seriously, Ino?"

"Uh huh! Packing is always the best part when we go on a trip!" I said gleefully. I glanced at Tenten, "Come on, Tenny! I need your help to pick out the dresses and gowns I need to bring!" Then I waltzed into my closet to pack.

I swear I heard Deidara ask Tenten, "Did you give her any sugar today…?"

"…No…I think she's always like that…"

Gee, thanks, Tenten.

"Well…I guess we're on the mission to keep my dear sister away from sugar?"

"Mhm," Tenten agreed.

_I'm not hyper! _I'm perfectly _normal_. _They're_ the weird ones here. Not me. I am sane and normal; they are now. Got that? Good.

"Ino?"

"Yes?"

"Do you need any help in there?"

"Sure, Tenten. By the way, where did Deidara go?"

"He went to check on his fiancée."

"Oh…"

"Now, what do you need help with?"

I looked around my gigantic closet filled with clothes, "Um…which dresses do I bring…?"

Tenten took one look, and sighed, "Let's get going, Ino." And so we started our adventure on choosing which clothes I should bring.

*~*

"This one?" It was a silk floor gown that was the color of my eyes. It was strapless and ruffled at the skirt.

I stared at it; I never knew I had that. "I like it. Bring it along."

The next one was made of silk and had thick straps. The top was a pure snow white, but as it traveled down, tints of red started to appear. It got redder and redder until it was a beautiful rose red at the end.

Tenten groaned, "Ino, you have _way_ too many dresses."

I just smiled innocently, "But I am the princess…"

She rolled her eyes and went back to work.

*~*

Oh, this is going to be _fun_! I can't wait!


	3. Dramatic Changes

Why do I have to do the disclaimer again...?

I DO NOT OWN NARUTO AND/OR THE CHARACTERS. THEY BELONG TO MASASHI KISHIMOTO.

There done. YAY! No disclaimer until the next chapter!

"Finally! We're done!" Tenten declared.

I looked around my closet confusingly. "We are?"

"Ino! Of course we're done packing your clothes! How much do you plan to bring anyway?! How much do you have?!"

I peered into my trunk. It was _stuffed_. I hope my dresses won't get wrinkled…back to Tenten's question. "Um…I have about twenty-five dresses in there already…? I think more then that…?" God, I sound so stupid….

Tenten stared at me in exasperation. "Twenty-five?! Ino…!"

I repeated what I said earlier, "But I am a princess…"

She just rolled her eyes at me. _Me! _A princess. I should have Deidara throw her into prison for that…!

"I need to pack my stuff, okay, Ino?"

"Sure."

So she went off to her chambers while I sat in my room. Ah ha! I know exactly how to get back at her for rolling her eyes at me! Let's hope that the Uchihas throw their balls like we do…

*~*

"Is there _anything_ in the world to do?" I whined as I walked through our gardens with Tenten.

She looked at me, "Well…you could do a lot of things…but your father and the servants would be horrified if you did do some of those things…"

"Things like…?"

"Planting flowers, gardening, cooking, and all that," Tenten answered, waving her hand, "According to your father, a princess doesn't do those things; those are what servants, maids, and cooks are for."

I frowned. If that was the case, if we royals had no maids, servants, and cooks, then we would be _dead_. Seriously. We wouldn't know how to cook or wash our clothes. Goodness, we are _so_ hopeless.

I crossed my arms, declaring in a very determined voice, "Well, _I'm_ going to learn how to do cook and all that whether Father likes it or not!"

Tenten glanced at me, sighing, "I knew you would say that…but how will you learn?"

I stared at her. Is she seriously that dense? "_You'll_ be my teacher. Isn't that obvious?"

"Why am I just _not_ surprised…."

"Well, Teacher, when will our first lesson be?"

My teacher just stared at me, "Don't call me 'Teacher'."

"Why?"

"Well…one, it makes me feel incredibly old. Besides, your father and the others might grow suspicious."

"Okay, Teacher!"

"Ino…" Tenten growled dangerously.

I laughed, "Fine, fine. But I get to call you 'Teacher' when we're alone, okay?"

"…Fine."

"By the way, you never answered my question. When is my first lesson?"

"That's a surprise!"

"Tenten…!"

"For now, we'll just look at the flowers that are blossoming in the garden, okay?"

I nodded, content with what we were about to do. Now that I think about it, I really want gardening to be my first lesson with Tenten. I know you don't need to know how to garden and work with flowers to live…but for some odd reason, I'm drawn to the idea of tending flowers.

"Tenten?"

"What?"

"I want to learn how to garden!" I dramatically declared.

"…What?"

"I want to learn how to work with flowers," I clarified.

"Okay…but why?"

I shrugged nonchalantly, "I don't know."

Tenten sighed as she shook her head, and asked herself, "Why am I her best friend again?"

I glared at her, "Because I am wonderful, beautiful, and just awesome."

"Riight…."

"You know I'm telling the truth here!" I defended.

She just rolled her eyes at me. Again. I really need to punish her for doing that…!

"Well," I started, trying to change the topic, "who do you look forward to seeing when we arrive at the Uchiha's castle, Tenten?"

Her eyes hardened, "Let's see…like you, I do look forward to meeting Inuzuka Hana. Other then that…I really don't know."

I stared at her in exasperation, "Come on, Tenten! There's got to be more people you want to meet!"

Glaring at me she retorted, "You shouldn't be talking; you only want to meet Inuzuka Hana."

"But I've already met a good deal of them!" Goodness, I fail at debates like this.

"What about the Sand Siblings?" Tenten questioned.

I cocked my head quizzically, "What about the Sand Siblings?"

Tenten face palmed, clarifying, "Temari, the eldest and only girl, is being courted my Shikamaru. Don't you want to meet her? I mean, Shikamaru willingly courting a girl? And the youngest, Gaara, was the only other person that your father could've given your hand to. Don't want to know how he's like?"

"Tenten…you're scaring me. You seem to know me more than I do myself…and that is really creepy."

She just smiled innocently at me.

I continued, "Besides, you still haven't replied to my earlier exclamation. There's got to be others that you want to meet, right?"

"Well…"

"Go on…" I drawled.

"INO!"

"HOLY CRUD, DEIDARA…!" I screamed. "There was absolutely no need to scream my name like that! You nearly scared me to death!"

My brother looked a bit disappointed, "Aww…you didn't die…?"

"_DEIDARA!" _I yelled.

"Oh crap…." My dear brother muttered as he saw me surrounded by a very dark aura. Yes. He should be _very_ scared right now.

"Um…" Tenten interrupted, "Deidara, I think you should run now…?"

"You. Wouldn't. Dare." I seethed.

Deidara gulped. Serves him right for trying to "kill" me. I'm going to kill him instead! The killed becomes the to-be-killed. Insert evil laugh. I glared my most evil glare at me brother, my sky blue eyes drilling holes into his body.

Deidara chuckled nervously, "It was just a joke, Ino…"

Like that's going to save him. "Some joke that was…" I growled dangerously.

"Ino…!" My brother exclaimed. "Don't get any closer then that…!"

"Why…?" I asked.

"Because I have news to tell you!" he declared dramatically.

"…What news…?" Tenten and I questioned in one voice.

"You're not going to the Uchiha castle two days from now!" My brother revealed dramatically.

Goodness. He's so dramatic at times…how are we related again?

I shook my head, clearing my mind of the thoughts that once occupied it. "Um…if I'm not going there in two days, then when am I going?"

Deidara was reluctant to tell me. "Er…in an hour…?"

Both Tenten and I stared at him. After a good four minutes and a half, I burst, my voice venomous, "_What?"_

He shrugged, looking extremely uncomfortable. "Yeah…everybody that's supposed to be going is leaving in about an hour from now. I think the Uchihas and Father want the marriage done as soon as possible."

Confusion replaced the anger and shock in me, "Why do they want it as soon as possible?"

Once again, Deidara just shrugged, "How am I supposed to know, hmmm…?"

Tenten spoke up, "If that's the case, shouldn't we all be preparing for the trip?"

Deidara replied, "Father already has that under control; the servants and maids are getting ready for the trip."

"Oh…well then…"

How could Father do this to me? All I've ever wanted was to marry for love…! I don't get that wish; I've already agreed to this marriage with Uchiha Sasuke! Couldn't he allow me to cherish my freedom for a few more days? Even an hour or two would have been enough. No, Father wants this done as soon as possible, and I only have an hour – probably even less then that – of loveless-marriage-life left! I _hate_ being a princess…how I would do anything to trade places with a mere peasant girl right now…!

"Ino…!" Tenten called. When I didn't respond, she walked over and snapped her fingers in my face. I didn't react to that either, so she –

"Huh…?" I murmured as I arose from the land of thoughts.

Tenten sighed in relief, "Thank goodness!"

I tilted my head in confusion, "What…?"

"You've been standing there for the last fifteen minutes, staring into nothingness. Do you think that I wasn't worried about you…?!"

"Oh…." I said, "Sorry. I was just thinking…"

Tenten smiled sadly at me, "I would be doing the exact same thing if I was you."

Tears started to escape from my eyes; tears that were never to fall again fell down my face. I swore to myself that I would never cry over the arranged marriage; it wouldn't change a single thing. But this was just too much for me to handle.

Tenten's eyes filled with concern. "Ino…"

I wiped the tears furiously with the hem of my sleeve. No. I was not going to cry. I'm strong enough…I'm not going to cry.

"It's okay," I managed shakily, "But can we go talk in the privacy of my room? Discussing something like this in the gardens where anybody could eavesdrop just doesn't seem right."

"Of course, Ino."

*~*

I flung myself into the comfort of my bed as soon as Tenten shut the door to my room. I gripped the lavender covers that coated my fluffy bed as I willed myself not to cry. It didn't work. My salty tears streamed down my face, wetting my covers as they did. They kept coming, and I couldn't stop didn't say a thing as she sat on my bed and rubbed my back, attempting to comfort me. After a few minutes, my breathing became less harsh, and my body had no more tears for me to cry. My face was now devoid of tears and I felt much better.

My best friend broke the silence that fell upon us, "Are you alright, Ino?"

I nodded, afraid of how I would sound if I spoke. The room was free of any sounds until I decided to speak, "I'm jealous." Before Tenten could ask why I was envious, I continued on, "I'm jealous of Hinata, Temari, and Hana. They're royal and important like me, but they've managed to find true love. Hinata found Naruto, Temari and Shikamaru are seeing each other, and Hana is engaged to Uchiha Itachi…how come I haven't found that yet? Tenten tried to speak but I didn't give her the chance, "And I'm most jealous of you, Tenten. It's nothing personal; it's just that you have so much freedom…something that I obviously don't have. You can fall in love and marry anybody you want…" I trailed off.

Tenten smiled bitterly, "Ino, you're overlooking a few things. You have the right be envious of Hinata, Temari, and Hana since they're all Ladies or Princesses. You have everything that they have – except one thing – true love."

My eyes clearly spelled out the confusion that I was feeling. "What am I overlooking?"

"Well, you believe that being a peasant girl will allow you to fall in love with anybody in the world, right?"

I just moved my head north and south, "Uh huh…?"

"You're wrong, Ino. You're very wrong." Tenten said. Before I could state my confusion, she went on, "What if somebody like me fell in love with a lord or prince? They will surely not allow such a thing…so, you are wrong, Ino."

She was right, and I was wrong. How come I didn't think of that…? "How did you get that, Tenten? It's not that I think you're not thoughtful enough to come up with something like that…. Have you experienced it yourself or something? Or did a friend of yours got through that?"

Tenten paled. It was not hugely noticeable, but I was always with her so I saw the difference. She left the topic completely alone and breathed, "I believe it is time to go, Ino."

Huh. That was odd. Tenten rarely pales…she's always the optimistic girl, you know? Tenten's been acting strange lately. The sewing and paling of the face is just not her. I want to know what happened…but I don't think pressuring her into telling me anything will work…oh, what in the world am I supposed to do?

Since I was so occupied with my thoughts, I didn't notice that I had arrived at my destination until I nearly crashed into my brother.

"Oomff!" I exclaimed.

"You alright Ino?" my brother and best friend asked at the same time.

"I'm fine," I said curtly. Ugh. More acting in front of the servants…

"As you say," Deidara replied. "Come, you and Tenten will be in that carriage, and my fiancée and I will share that one."

I dipped my head quickly and climbed into my carriage with Tenten following closely behind. I sighed softly as one of the servants closed the door. I think Tenten and I will be able to talk in here quietly without being heard.

"Tenten…" I murmured.

She looked at me, "Yes, Ino?"

"Can we talk…?" I inquired cautiously.

This time, instead of paling, she stiffened a little. "About what?" she asked, her voice sharp.

"About what we were discussing in my room. The part about the other girls' matches; not about you." I explained.

Tenten now seemed more relaxed, "Of course we can."

"So." I started. "As I was saying earlier, Hinata and Hana are beyond lucky."

Tenten rose an eyebrow, "What happened to Temari…?"

I rolled my eyes, stating the obvious, "She's stuck with Shikamaru. Do I have to explain more…?"

Tenten's eyebrows only got higher.

I sighed in defeat. "Fine, Temari's lucky too, even if she is with Shikamaru. As long as they're both happy, then everything is fine with me."

Tenten nodded her head in agreement.

"They have all the luck, finding true love in royalty…but what about me? I get all the bad luck, stuck in an arranged marriage with Uchiha Sasuke…!"

Tenten's eyes softened, "I think you'll be able to break it off."

I gaped at her in amazement, "Really? How?"

"It might upset you all over again…"

"How, Tenten, how?"

Tenten stared me right into my eyes while saying "You'll have to fall in love with another noble."

"…What…?"

"I knew it." Tenten muttered to herself. "I knew Ino would be like that…guess I'll have to explain it to her." She cleared her throat before starting. "Your father wants to become more powerful, right?"

I responded with a nod.

All the other nobles that will be attending your wedding are about as important as Uchiha Sasuke. If you fall in love with one of them, you may be able to break your engagement to Uchiha Sasuke off and marry your one true love. It's a win-win situation if you do find your love." Tenten finished.

I stared at her. "Are…you…serious…?"

Tenten just tilted her head to the side, answering, "Of course I'm serious, Ino. I would never give you false hopes on something as serious as this."

"Okay. So I have to fall in love with another noble to break off the engagement with Uchiha Sasuke, right? If that's the case, then who are some of the nobles that I can fall in love with, Tenten?"

Tenten stared at me, "You're the princess, Ino. You should know this stuff."

I shrugged, "Well, I don't."

She sighed before naming them, "There's Inuzuka Kiba, brother of Inuzuka Hana. Both brothers of the Sand are fine too."

"Anybody else, Tenten?" I asked.

"Well, you could always fall in love with Uchiha Sasuke. There's no one else that I can think of since Shikamaru, Uchiha Itachi, and Uzumaki Naruto are already with the other girls."

I gazed at Tenten, puzzled, "What about the Hyuugas?"

"Oh. Right. There's Hyuuga Neji too." Was it just me, or did she have to force out the name…? Nah, I'm pretty sure it was just me. Tenten looked at me and said, "Don't worry about me, Ino. I'm perfectly fine. Just rest or sleep for the rest of the trip to the Uchiha castle, okay? You'll need the energy when you get there."

I nodded before closing my eyes to go on a different journey, the journey to dreamland. Oh well. I'll figure out what's bothering Tenten when we get there. And then darkness enveloped me.


	4. Privacy

_**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO AND THE CHARACTERS. **_They belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Now let me continue my story in peace, please.

*~*

Someone was shaking me. Hard, attempting to wake me up. No…I still want to sleep… Then, a faraway voice called out, "Ino! Wake up! We're resting for the night now!"

Well, if that's the case, then why are you telling me to get up?

"Your brother wants you to go the hot springs and clean yourself up. Ino!"

I slowly opened my eyes and blinked to see Tenten hovering over me, snapping her fingers in my face. "Huh…?"

She sighed, "Finally! You're awake! Deidara wants you to-"

"I know, I know. He wants me to freshen up at the springs." I muttered.

Tenten nodded. "I'm coming with you, if you were wondering."

"Okay…let's get going then."

"Coming!"

I peered at my dress and gasped. All the wrinkles…and the stains!

Tenten heard my gasp and asked, "Is everything all right, Ino?"

"No…! My dress!" I wailed, "It's ruined!"

I swear I heard Tenten face palm and sigh, "It's just a few stains-"

"Just a few stains?!"

"-and we can clean it when we get to the Uchiha Castle."

"…"

"…Ino?"

"Okay! We'll do it your way then, Tenten!"

"Sure…" I'm pretty positive that she's thinking that I sneaked some sugary substance – or just sugar itself – into my mouth on the way here. Why else would I be this hyper? To assure my best friend that her assumptions were very wrong and what happened was quite the opposite, I turned around and said, "Don't worry, Tenten. I didn't have any sweet things today."

She looked at me as if she didn't believe me. "Right…"

I looked at her innocently and beamed. "Of course I'm right!"

She rolled her eyes (probably at my complete and utter hopelessness) and moved her head east and west. "Ino, Ino…"

I smiled.

*~*

"This feels so good…" Tenten murmured as we sank into the spring.

"I concur."

The water was hot, but not hot enough to burn our skin off. Thank goodness for that. Tenten and I had found a secluded spot among the trees where we were sure that nobody could see us unless they made themselves visible to us. We do not want perverted men peeking on us…especially if they're old…

Tenten slid under the warmth of the water until her closed eyes and the damp brown hair on top of her head was the only part if her in sight. I decided to leave Tenten in her peace. Besides, it was rare that she ever got the time by herself to mull over life. I followed her lead and let my body draw toward the bottom of the spring until my blonde hair and sky blue eyes were the only things above the water. The warm water surrounding me soothed my cramp muscles that I received from sleeping in a very uncomfortable position on the carriage. I sighed softly. It's a pity that the baths that I have at home never manage to bring me at peace like this spring.

"…Ino…?" My best friend inquired quietly.

I raised my eyes to meet her chocolate orbs. "What is it, Tenten?"

"…I…" She paused slightly as if to change her mind about something and continued, "I think we should be going by now. Your brother might be worried."

"I agree. We'll leave in a few minutes." What is with Tenten? I'm pretty sure what she wanted to say to me wasn't that…

*~*

Tenten and I sat down in my carriage, preparing for the second half of our journey. Both of us had denied the food that Deidara offered earlier since we weren't hungry for any. I want to question Tenten about her actions over the past few days…I would if it was some other random person, but this is Tenten. She's my best friend and one of my only true friends that I have. Asking her something that she obviously doesn't want to discuss feels like I'm invading her privacy. And I'm not about to do that.

Tenten looked at me with concerned eyes, "I know you slept on the way here, Ino, but you seem a bit tired. I suggest that you sleep for the next part of the trip."

I wanted to protest, but I didn't. "M'kay." I murmured. I let my back fit against the curve of the seat, trying to get into a comfortable position to sleep in. When I finally found one, my eyelids were already covering my blue eyes and I fell asleep.

*~*

-Sorry for the uber short chapter! I was going to add on the when Ino got to the Uchiha Castle, but it didn't seem to go well...I also wanted to make it clear that something is troubling Tenten, and even Ino doesn't know what.

Thanks for all the reviews you guys gave me! :)


	5. Uchihas

Oh please save me…it's another disclaimer…! No…! Why…?!

_**NARUTO AND THE CHARACTERS BELONG TO MASASHI KISHIMOTO. **_(Sadly…)

Anna and Mihana Yuri © ChocoKitten

There. I'm done. Happy?

*~*

I. Was. _Beyond_. Bored. There was absolutely _nothing_ to do on the carriage since Tenten was sleeping and I didn't want to disturb her. I couldn't look at the window; that would tell enemies and everyone else that I'm in this carriage. Ugh. So _bored_. I'm going to from boredom…! Hey…now that I think about it, that might not be a bad idea; dying from boredom! If I do die from boredom, then I won't have to marry Uchiha Sasuke! I also wouldn't have to be in an arranged marriage! Yay! But the question is…exactly _how_ am I supposed to die from boredom…?

Tenten stirred beside me. All thoughts that were related to boredom immediately left my mind and were replaced by my worries for my best friend. I glanced down at her and sighed. I have a feeling that her troubles are related to boy troubles. I don't know why. You see, I have this knack of knowing what is going on in someone's mind if I really wanted too. It's as if I'm reading their mind…!

"Ino…?" Tenten mumbled.

"Yeah?"

"Are we…are we almost there yet?" She asked. I swear I heard fear laced into her voice. That's odd, considering the fact that Tenten does not get scared easily.

"I think we have a few more kilometers to go." I responded.

She gasped and shakily pulled her legs up into the curve of her chest and hugged them. My best friend was trembling and she was a pale chalky white instead of her usual tan complexion. Tears were forming in her eyes while she was rocking herself back and forth, trying to calm herself down. She was talking to herself, "No…no…! Not when I finally-!" she shuddered and her tears came forth at full force.

I'll admit it. I was afraid. Frightened. Terrified. Tenten was not the kind of girl that broke down and wept easily. But there she was, right beside me, crying her eyes out.

"…Tenten…?"

She shook her head furiously, obviously not wanting to talk. If that was what she wants, then that's what she'll get. I left her alone for the rest of the trip.

*~*

"We have arrived, Princess Yamanaka," my footman announced.

I looked at him gratefully and replied, "Thank you for informing me."

"You're welcome."

Tenten and I stepped out of my carriage, her face devoid of the tears that she had previously shed.

Yes! No more formala-! No! I forgot that we still needed to meet the Uchihas! No…! My life is cursed…

"Ino?" My brother inquired cautiously.

"Yeah?"

"Good. Just checking if you were still alive or not."

That-! Never mind. I'm not even going to say it. I'm going to ignore it and act as if it never happened. You will chill, Ino-

"Hey Ino, you still alive?"

Screw that. Deidara is so going to die when I ever get the chance to be alone with him…

"Ino, I'm serious this time."

"I'm fine Deidara. I was just thinking." I said back, literally mouthing the words.

He gulped and left me alone. Good choice for him. But that's _so_ not going to save him.

*~*

"Presenting, Princess Yamanaka Ino!"

My brother and Tenten were sent to their chambers to rest and clean up. On the other hand, I was sent to the King's and Queen's throne room to meet my – possible – future mother-in-law, father-in-law-, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and husband. I focused my eyes on the gray stone wall just next to the Queen's head, so I was sort of looking at the King and Queen.

I curtsied, and then rose, waiting for the King or Queen to speak. "Welcome!" The Queen spoke. "I hope you've enjoyed your trip, Princess Ino! I am Queen Mikoto, and my husband here is King Fugaku."

I nodded politely.

She gestured to two extremely handsome men and woman. "This is Uchiha Itachi, my elder son and the heir to the throne, and the woman next to him is Lady Hana, fiancée of Itachi."

I observed Itachi and Hana. Itachi was quite tall, taller than Deidara… That was all I got before Queen Mikoto started speaking again.

"Uchiha Sasuke, your betrothed."

Hmm. It seems as if Sasuke is trying to hold in a scowl – I've seen Deidara do that a lot when he's around Father. He doesn't want to be here. Well, guess what? I don't either.

Queen Mikoto clapped her hands and declared, "Well, now that we all know who is who, why don't we leave Sasuke and Ino alone so they can learn more about each other?" She didn't even wait for an answer and whisked Sasuke and I into another room. She gently pushed us in and just said, "Have fun."

I stared out the window while Sasuke glared at some inanimate object. Since it was obvious that he wasn't going to start a conversation, I decided to give it a try. "Sasuke…?"

"Uchiha." He replied curtly.

Well. _Somebody_ evidently has something up his bottom. I snorted. Fine. Let him be that way.

"Okay. Uchiha. I don't want to be here, and I'm pretty sure you feel the same. So can we just make truce?"

His head snapped up so his slightly surprised eyes could meet mine. "You don't want to be here?"

I crossed my arms and scoffed. "Why would I want to?"

"Nothing…it's just that most girls would kill to be in your position right now."

"To tell the truth, I was that kind of girl until I met Tenten."

He nodded and left the subject of my best friend alone.

"So," I pleaded. "Can we please have truce? Just tolerate each other's existence? Jus-"

"It's not going to work."

I tilted my head. "What do you mean, Uchiha?"

"There's no way out of this arranged marriage."

"How do you know?"

"Because I know my mother, and she'll do anything to get us together."

"Tenten thought of a way…"

"Is it going to work?"

"Tenten thought of it! It's got to work! Besides, she wouldn't give me false hope like that!" I defended.

"Hn. Then let's here it."

"According to her, all we have to do is fall in love with somebody else with great power, and our parents will break this off. It's sort of a win-win situation. Our parents get the power, and we get our happiness and love."

"It's not going to work."

He did not just disagree with Tenten's plan. "Why?"

"Because I know, alright?" Uchiha sounded ticked off and a little desperate. "Just leave it alone, okay?"

"…Fine. But we get truce okay?"

"Sure."

"And maybe even friends one day, right?"

"Maybe."

*~*

"Tenten!" I wailed in distress.

"Yes?"

"He said your plan isn't going to work!"

"Why?"

"I don't know! I just asked him 'why' too, but he wanted me to leave the topic alone! What am I going to do now?!"

I don't think Tenten even heard my last exclamation. It is official. My life is _pathetic_.

"Ino…?" Erase what I said earlier. My life isn't pathetic, but it's pretty close. "Do you think Sasuke fell in love with another girl but his parents refused the proposal?"

"Never actually thought of that…it might've been the case. That would also explain why he didn't want to discuss the 'why'!" I realized.

Tenten smiled. Then she said, "My idea could work. I do believe that your father really cares for your happiness, Ino, so I doubt that he would turn down your wish to marry the person you love if he has power."

I knew Father has always cared about my happiness, but I've definitely had my doubts.

A servant knocked on the door and Tenten went to open it. "Is Princess Yamanaka in her room? I have a message for her."

"She is, but she is resting, so you may tell me the message and I will relay it to her." Tenten replied.

"There will be a ball tomorrow evening, and all the guests are asked to attend. Princess Yamanaka may bring a friend along if she wishes."

"Thank you. You are now dismissed."

Tenten walked over to me. "According to a messenger, there's going to be a ball tomorrow. You can bring an extra guest if you want to."

My eyes shone bright with excitement. "Really? That's great! When do we go select our dresses?"

"Hold on right there, missy." Tenten commanded. "What do you mean by _'we'_?"

"Exactly what I meant, Tenten! You'll be the one that I'll be bringing to the ball tomorrow!"

She paled. "Are you sure Ino?"

"What do you mean, Tenten? You're my best friend; of course you're coming with me!"

"But what if the Uchiha's don't want a servant dancing with the nobles and royals? I'll be a disgrace to you, Ino!"

I waved it off, "Nonsense, Tenten, absolute nonsense! You will come with me whether you like it or not! Besides, I want you to come. I need someone to chat with when I'm not being passed on from this dance partner to the next."

I knew Tenten's resolve was weakening. Tenten sighed before murmuring a soft, "Okay. I'll go."

I hugged her, showing her how grateful I was. "I so owe you one."

She only hugged me back.

I pulled away after a few minutes and asked, "Hey, do you want to meet up with the other 'noble' girls in a few minutes?"

Tenten tensed. "No guys, right?"

Ah. So it _is_ a guy problem. "No guys. We can meet them later if you want."

"Okay then."

"But before we do that…"

Tenten gazed at me, waiting for me to finish. "What?"

"I have to change!"

"…Seriously Ino?"

"Hey! You and Deidara tell me that _way_ too much! Besides, this dress feels stuffy!"

"Never said that I wasn't going to allow you to switch dresses, Ino." Tenten pointed out amusedly.

"You meanie…!" I pouted.

She laughed.

*~*

I had called for a messenger to tell all the rest of the ladies to meet in one of the Uchiha's many libraries. The messenger came back to tell me that everybody would be there in ten minutes.

I slipped out of the sky blue dress that I had on and put on one of my favorites – a simple lilac purple dress. It was nothing fancy – just light purple silk that hugged my body and fell to my feet. Simple but beautiful; the way I like things.

*~*

The palace is huge compared to mine.

"Uh…" I poked Tenten. "Do you know where we are?"

"Hmm…let me think…we're in the universe, in the Milky Way galaxy, in the solar system, on Earth, in Konoha, in the Uchiha Castle, and in one of the hallways of the Uchiha Castle. Am I right?"

"Meanie…! You know I didn't mean it like that…!" I whined pitifully.

"Oh…? What did you mean then?"

I opened my mouth to retort but I was cut off by a guy's voice. "Are you ladies lost?"

Tenten and I stiffened before turning around.

I exhaled in relief, "Oh, it's just you, Kiba."

Kiba's faked hurt face, gasping, "Just me, Ino? Just me? What do I mean to you…?!"

"You idiot…" I grumbled under my breath. "YOU SCARED TENTEN AND ME HALF TO DEATH…!"

Kiba pumped his fist into the air, "Yes! Goal achieved!"

I glared at him.

He glared at me back until he shifted his gaze onto Tenten. "Ah, so you're Ino's best friend, Tenten, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Ignore him." I whispered into Tenten's ear, "He's the kind that chases after pretty girls, you know?"

"Hey!" Kiba protested, "I heard that!"

I rolled my eyes. "You know it's true, dog-boy."

"Hey! Just because my best friend is Akamaru doesn't make me dog-boy!"

"Kiba, it does."

"But why…?"

Tenten walked up to him and thwomped him on the head, which resulted in me giggling into my hand. "Inuzuka Kiba. Just show us the where the main library is! That's all!" Tenten demanded. Goodness. Tenten can be one scary woman when she wants to be…

Kiba obviously agrees with me because he answered in a meek voice, "Fine, fine. Geez. All I wanted was to scare the heck out of Ino…"

My turn to thwomp him on the head!

"Ow…what the heck was that for?!" Kiba complained.

"According to you, it was for 'scaring the heck out of me'. Now get going!"

"Sheesh." Kiba grumbled. "You guys are even worse then Yuri…"

A puzzle expression replaced Tenten's once extremely frightening features, "Yuri…who's that?" On the other hand, I squealed quite loudly, "Yuri?! She's here too? Really? Then that gives me the chance to get-"

Kiba growled, "You. Are. Not. Going. Through. Your. Matchmaking. Phase. And. Try. To. Get. Mihana. And. I. Together."

I shot Tenten an apologetic look that said, 'I'll explain when we get there' before turning towards Kiba and pouted. "Why are you and Yuri still on a last name basis…? You've known her since…like, forever! The same goes for her!"

"Yeah, and I've hated her since forever too."

"Kiba…!"

"Just shut your trap while I lead you two to the main library."

_Meanie._

*~*

Kiba gestured to a grand oak door looming in front of us. "There's the main library. I hope you have fu-"

Somebody with super-human strength slammed the door open; yeah, it was Haruno Sakura.

"Inuzuka Kiba."

Kiba whirled around before glaring at the person who just spoke. "What the hell do you want?!"

"Kiba!" Hana's scold echoed through the library, "What did I tell you about swearing?"

Kiba, being Kiba, ignored his older sister and repeated his question, word for word.

Yuri, the girl he was glaring at, glared back. "You know what I want, Kiba? I want to get out of this room and my life!"

I looked behind me to see Tenten staring at them. Right. She doesn't know the full story about their relationship…

"You want to me explain?" I asked her in a light whisper.

"No, it's fine. I've got this all figured out. I think." she responded. "Hana and Kiba are siblings, Hana being the older sister. Yuri and Kiba hate each other, although I don't know why. The girl who slammed the door open is Haruno Sakura; it's sort of hard to not notice her hair. Hyuuga Hinata and Sabaku Temari should be in the library waiting for us with Inuzuka Hana."

I grinned, "You got the girls all figured out, Tenten!"

She smiled back and then used her hand to point at the two royals arguing. "Either we drag Yuri into the room and lock Kiba out, or we can wait for them to finish their argument."

Sakura overheard us and replied, "Wait for them?! Do you want to put the Uchiha Castle at risk of destruction?!"

"It's that bad?" Tenten questioned.

I nodded simultaneously with Sakura, "Mhm. It's gets that bad."

Tenten shrugged weakly. "Then I guess it's back to Plan A?"

"Uh huh." I confirmed.

We conversed for a few seconds before getting into our places.

"Uh, Yuri…?" I asked timidly. It was never a brilliant idea to ask Yuri a question when she's in the middle of a spat with Kiba. She gets all angry with you and then it's the destruction of the world. I'm serious.

She shifted her ultimate-death-glare onto me, "What do you want…?"

I gulped, "Um, the best friend of mine that you've been dying to meet is waiting in the library to meet you…"

Her death glare was replaced by a excitement. "Really?! She's in there? Can I go in? Please, please, please…!"

I glanced at Sakura you rolled her eyes at me. Yuri…

Staring at Yuri as if she was an idiot, I said, "Of course you can come! Besides, it's not as if this is my castle…!"

"YES!" Yuri was about to waltz into the library when she remembered her spat with Kiba. She turned around and gave him a hard hit in the head, grinning happily.

Kiba held his head in pain. "Ow…what in the world was that for…?! I already got thwomped by Tenten and Ino! Now you do it to-"

_SLAM_.

"You darn-"

"Mission accomplished!" Sakura stated cheerfully before she sat down in one of the chairs.

*~*

We were now all seated in a rectangle of two sofas and two armchairs. Hana decided to sit in an armchair all by herself, just like Temari. Hinata and Sakura sat on the same couch, while Tenten, Yuri and I claimed the other.

After we were all seated comfortably, I declared, "Introductions first!"

Temari snorted, "Obviously."

I stuck my tongue out at her in a very childish way.

She rolled her eyes.

While we were doing this, Hana spoke first. "Well, I'm pretty sure you guys all know that I'm the older sister of my idiot of a brother, Inuzuka Kiba, and the fiancée of Uchiha Itachi. I love animals, especially dogs; I have three of them. Well, that's all I'm telling you. If you want to know more, then you'll have to spend more time with me!"

Yuri stuck out her bottom lip; "You're ruining this for Tenten…!"

Tenten just laughed, "It's fine. Besides, I have a feeling that we'll be spending lots of time together away from those men of yours!"

"I protest." Yuri, Sakura, and I said at the same time. "We don't have men…!"

Temari tapped her chin. "True, considering the fact that you don't want to marry Uchiha Sasuke. Yeah, we know you don't have a man yet, Sakura. On the other hand…" Temari's lips curled into a mischievous smile, "Yuri has Kiba…"

"I DO NOT!" Yuri exclaimed in defense, "I UTTERLY LOATHE HIM!"

The rest of us laughed at Yuri's outburst. When we finally calmed down, Hinata come up with a suggestion, "How about we go to one of our rooms and talk? We'll have more privacy and we wont disturb as many people." She gestured to the scholars and the people who had come to enjoy their afternoon in the library to read shooting dirty looks at us even though we were of a high social status.

"Typical Hinata." Yuri said. "Always thinking about the wellbeing of others."

"Well," I started, "if we're going to be in somebody's room, then whose shall we go to?"

"How about Hana's room? Being Uchiha Itachi's – the heir to the throne – fiancée, her room should have high quality security, right?" Sakura asked.

Hana flushed a bright red before stuttering, "U-m, you se-ee, uh, we-ll…"

"Just spit it out already, Hana!" Temari snapped just loud enough for us to hear her.

Hana quickly shook her head before turning toward Yuri and said something softly. Yuri's emerald eyes widened in shock and put her hand over her mouth as she gasped.

Yuri faced us and said in a steady voice, "Hana shares a room with Itachi for-"

"…What…?" I questioned.

Yuri answered, "Er, yeah…Hana is better protected with Itachi by her side – he is so skilled as a swordsman! – and Queen Mikoto said that it was to get 'Hana and Itachi comfortable for their married life'."

"Okay, then." Tenten said. "Hana's room is crossed off."

"Well, Ino is Uchiha Sasuke's fiancée, so how about her-"

"No, that wouldn't work. You guys know Deidara. He'll bust in there anytime he wants to and who knows what he'll do." I stated.

Tenten nodded in understanding. "Ino's room is unavailable. Next?"

"My room." Temari said. "I'm a princess from the Land of the Sand, so privacy would be the next best there."

Yuri asked, "You sure your brothers won't barge in?"

"Positive."

"Yeah, they shouldn't because I'm pretty sure that the guys are also having a 'reunion'." Hana explained.

"Oh, that's good then." Hinata murmured softly.

"How about we get going?" Sakura proposed.

"The best idea you've come up with today, Sakura!" I exclaimed.

"…Hey!"

We laughed.


	6. Laughter

To all the goodness in the world…SAVE ME FROM THIS DISCLAIMER…!

_**NARUTO AND THE CHARACTERS BELONG TO MASASHI KISHIMOTO~!**_

Mihana Yuri © ChocoKitten

YES! The evilness has passed! On the story!

"There!" Sakura declared proudly, "We made it here with no casualties or injuries!"

I stared at her, "…Seriously, Sakura?"

Temari chimed in, "I agree with Ino – seriously, Sakura? It wasn't as if we were on a top secret mission or something, so why are you acting like it?"

Sakura pouted and glared at us, "Can't I have some fun…?"

Yuri replied, "Nope! You can't!"

"Hey! Why not?!"

Tenten gazed at Sakura dryly before commenting, "Have you ever heard of sarcasm, Sakura?"

"I like you already!" Hana exclaimed after Tenten finished her sentence.

"You guys are all so mean…" Sakura complained.

"What did I ever do, Sakura?" Hinata questioned softly.

"Oh! You guys are all meanies except Hinata here!"

The rest of eyes looked at each other before saying simultaneously, "Right…"

Another pout formed on Sakura's face, which brought the sound of our laughter to fill Temari's room.

Hinata, being the most polite and formal out of all of us girls, quieted down first and said, "I believe that's enough. Besides, we need to continue our introductions."

Hana's laughter slowly came to a stop. "I agree. Ino, stop laughing so loud; the guards are going to come running to see what's happening in 'Princess' Temari's room."

"Hana!" Temari whined after her own laughter ceased, "You know how much I hate when people refer as 'Princess' Temari…!"

"That's exactly why I did it, Temari."

"Hmph! At this rate, you'll never make a good Queen!"

"Hana will make a perfectly fine Queen!" Yuri defended. "It's just that her treatment toward her friends tend to be…a bit…odd…"

"True," I stated, putting my two cents in.

"I agree!" Sakura said.

Hana mock glared, "Hey! We're supposed to introduce ourselves, remember? Not discuss whether I'll be a good Queen or not!"

"Why not…?" Yuri protested.

"Because I'm the future Queen and I said so." Hana replied.

"Hey!" Sakura exclaimed. "That's abusing your power!"

"It's for a good reason, Sakura." Tenten and I said together.

"…Fine."

"Can we _please_ get to introductions now?" Temari inquired impatiently, tapping her foot. "We've wasted enough time already and we only have a few hours before we all have to go back to our own chambers to sleep."

"Alright, sorry, Temari."

"It's okay. Just get on with the introductions!"

Yuri spoke, "Well, it's all pretty obvious that I hate Kiba, ri-"

I interrupted her with a squeal, "You call him by his first name?! Really?! If you're calling him by his first name, you guys _could_ get tog-"

"Ino. What Kiba said. You will not try to get us together."

I squealed again, "You called Kiba by his first name _again_! And you agreed with him…!"

"Ino." Yuri said in a deadly voice. "You will _not_ have any more thoughts about trying to get Kiba and I together. We _hate_ each other, okay?!"

I smiled slyly and sang, "I have some _ideas_, not _thoughts_…"

"Besides," Hinata stated. "Kiba needs a girl that can keep him in check…"

Yuri gaped at her in pure horror and disgust, "Hinata…? You too?!"

Hana shrugged, "I've always wanted to be related to you in some way, and the only I can think of is by you marrying my brother."

"…Hana! Why?! I thought you were on my side!"

"Well, you thought wrong." Temari replied, smirking. "We all play for our own sides here."

"Temari!"

"By the way," Sakura exclaimed, "Did you guys know that people only say that they hate someone to cover their true feelings?"

"…! Sakura!"

Tenten looked at Yuri innocently, "Why is your face flushed red the, Yuri? I thought you didn't like dog-boy here."

"No!" Yuri wailed. "Even the newcomer, Tenten, is against me…!"

After we finally managed to convince Yuri that we were not going to scheme together to come up with a plan to make her and Kiba an official couple, we got to our introductions again.

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted with the topic of Kiba and me-"

I squealed. Again. "You called him by his first name…!"

I received Yuri's ultimate death glare. I mentally rolled my eyes. Couldn't I even state a fact? She _did_ call Kiba by his first name….

"Kiba-"

"Again!" It was Sakura that squealed this time.

"Shut. Up."

Sakura did.

"Well, _Inuzuka-_"

"Aw…you called Kiba by his last name…!" I whined.

Yuri twitched but ignored me and continued, "-and we happen to have a huge amount of dislike for each other. The only reason I'm here is because my mother is a very close friend of Lady Tsume. Thing is, Father and Mother travel a lot because Father's a very successful merchant, but I'm not too fond of traveling, so I usually stay with Hana and her brother when my parents are out."

"So you and Hana must be pretty close, right?" Hinata observed.

Yuri nodded. "I don't get it though. We're as close as sisters yet she still wants me and Kiba-"

"You called him by his first name!" I exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at Yuri.

Yuri's emerald green eyes widened in shock as her hand crept up into her hair to twist a strand of her brown hair. "Um, what does that prove…?"

"That you like Kiba!" Sakura declared.

"Hey!" I protested, "That was what I was going to say…!"

"Too bad, I said is first."

"I don't like Kiba!" Yuri denied.

"You're in denial…" Temari chanted amusedly under her breath.

"I CAN HEAR THAT, YOU KNOW?!" Yuri snapped.

"Yeah, I know." Temari responded casually. "If you act like that, how will you become a proper Lady of the Inuzuka household?"

"Everybody's against you, Yuri." Hana teased, a grin on her face.

Yuri attempted to change the topic, "What about the introductions…?"

"We can save them for later, right, Tenten?" Hinata asked.

"It's fine. Ino already gave me a lengthy description of all you guys…so lets begin the game of 'Torturing-Yuri-with-Kiba'!"

"Tenten…!" Yuri cried out. "You're supposed to feel sorry for me and help me! Same for you, Hinata!"

Hinata giggle softly, "Sorry, Yuri. Kiba and I are good friends, but he really needs a female by his side; you're the perfect one."

Yuri glared at all of us before moaning, "The world is going to end…!"

The rest of us glanced at each other before erupting in laughter. "This is going to be fun…"

After shooting a dirty look our way, she called out, "Please someone, save me!"

As if that was ever going to happen…

Life is not fair.

Luck is currently with Yuri.

Ugh.

About fifteen seconds after Yuri stated her request to all the goodness of the world, someone knocked on the door. Guess who it was? Kankuro, the middle child of the Sand Siblings, knocked on the door and saved her from the torture that Yuri was going to experience. I swear he heard her plea…

"Kankuro?" Temari inquired when she saw her brother leaning against the wall of her room, trying to catch his breath, "What happened, Kankuro? I though you and the rest of the guys had a little 'reunion'; it's been a long time since you've all been in the same place at the same time."

"Oh, the reunion?" Kankuro asked while rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, we didn't really have it…"

I looked at him, puzzled, "Eh…? I thought everyone was here though…"

Kankuro grinned sheepishly, "Well, that's what we thought too, but then we realized that Sai didn't arrive yet…and nor did Naruto. We can't exactly have a reunion without either of them here, so we canceled it."

Hinata tilted her head to the side, "That doesn't really explain why you were breathing hard when you first got here though…"

"Oh, that?" Kankuro asked. "Well, since we couldn't hold a reunion because a few guys were missing, we decided to sword fight."

"Really?!" I questioned, immediately interested.

"Yes, really." Kankuro answered, looking at me as if I was a younger sister.

"Would it be possible for us to sword fight too?" Sakura and I asked in the same voice.

Temari and Hana stared at us incredulously, "You guys don't know how to wield and use a sword…?!"

I answered for Sakura and myself, "Yeah, is there a problem with that?"

"No, it's just that I'm pretty skilled when it comes to using a sword," Temari explained.

Hana continued, "If you had to classify me, I'm at the intermediate level, thanks to Itachi. He helped me learn a lot of the techniques. He's a genius when it comes to swords and all that, just like Hyuuga Neji and Lord Kakashi."

"Oh, so it's for self-" I stopped abruptly and stared at Tenten. There it was. The paling and the slight trembling…

"Ino? What were you going to say?" Hinata asked.

"Oh…wait, I think I lost my train of thought," I quickly lied.

Hana crossed her arms, smiling, "You were going to say for self defense, right?"

"Uh…yeah! That was what I was going to say!"

Temari grinned, "Hana did it for self defense and so she could beat up her little brother. It's same for me…self defense and beating up little brother_s_."

Kankuro semi-glared at his older sister, "Hey. Gaara could unhand you in the first five minutes of the game, so stop talking!"

Temari laughed, "As if you can beat Gaara yourself! Besides, the only other people who could defeat our little brother would be Itachi, Sasuke, and, surprisingly, Naruto. There may be some others, but those are the only guys that I can name off the top of my head."

Kankuro sighed, "True, true."

"Okay," Tenten interjected, "So Hana and Temari can sword fight. Anybody else?"

Hinata spoke timidly, "Um, I can use a dagger pretty well…"

I gaped at Hinata, "The innocent little Hinata can handle a dagger…?"

She nodded, blushing madly.

While I was still trying to digest the fact that our sweet and innocent Hinata could use a dagger, Sakura whirled around and pointed an accusing finger at Tenten, "What about you, Tenten? Can you use any weapons?"

Tenten opened her mouth to answer, but I beat her to it, "She definitely can!"

"Eh…?"

Tenten shook her head and clarified, "Well…let's just say that I can use any weapon you hand me…"

Kankuro gawked at her in shock, "…Really?"

"Yeah…" I replied. "Tenten believes that we women are just as strong as men, so I 'borrowed' some of Deidara's weapons for her to train with."

The rest of them stared at my best friend in amazement and awe.

Tenten, not used to the attention, said, "It's not as if I mastered all of them…my skill on the majority of them would be at intermediate."

Hana crossed her arms, "So? That's still – no offense – pretty impressive for a servant girl like you. And I'd like to remind you that I'm only intermediate on my sword skills!"

"But…" Hinata stated, "You being a servant girl, how did you get to practice and advance in your skills?"

"I was wondering about the same thing," Sakura said.

"Same." Temari agreed.

"Well, at first, I had Tenten sneak down during the night to my brother's training grounds, since nobody's allowed to go there other then me, Deidara, or they have special permission from us."

"What if somebody caught Tenten walking through the corridors at night?" Hana asked.

"We thought of that possibility," Tenten responded.

I continued, "Every night, I'd give her something before she went. It was either food or something of mine. If – when – somebody saw her, all Tenten had to do was show the person the item and say that Princess Yamanaka had requested for it."

Kankuro chuckled, "Lying. It's bad for your health, you know?"

"Hey!" I protested for Tenten's sake. "Look at where it got her! She can use any kind of sword, daggers, crossbows, and lots more!"

He held up his hands in mock surrender, "Just stating a fact, okay?"

We, the girls, all rolled our eyes.

"Hey…" The eldest Sand Sibling started, "Why are you here in the first place, Kankuro?"

The middle Sand Sibling scratched his head before answering his teal-eyed sister, "Well…Itachi and the rest of the guys were wondering where you ladies were, so they sent me to search for you…"

Hana nodded, understanding. "Tell Itachi that I'll meet him in a few…I want to spend some time with the girls first, okay, Kankuro?"

"Sure, sure. Any other messages…?" Kankuro asked.

"Yes." Yuri spoke, "Tell Inuzuka to go down there!"

"Ah. Okay." Kankuro said, getting the message, "You don't swear?"

"Do you think we can…?" We all questioned in unison.

"Right. Ladies. No swearing."

"Anything else?"

We all said no, and shoved a protesting Kankuro out the door. "Bye! See you at dinner!" I called out cheekily, waving at him.

Temari shut her door before saying, "Finally! We get our peace and quiet!"

Sakura looked at her dryly, "With you here, we'll _never_ get any peace or quiet."

Temari glared at her. Sakura gazed at her innocently. I shook my head at their childish antics.

"Say…" I started.

"What?" Hinata inquired, glancing at me.

"When do you think Sai and Naruto are going to come?"

"Sai?!" Yuri exclaimed excitedly, "Sai's coming?!"

"They have to come by tomorrow otherwise we'll have to postpone the ball," Hana answered before turning to Yuri, "Why are you so excited about Sai coming?"

"Hana…!" I'm literally your sister-"

"But you're not – you have to marry Kiba…!" Sakura interjected, singing the last part.

"Shut up!"

"Language," Hinata scolded softly.

"But that's not even that bad…!" Yuri complained.

"Listen to Hinata," Tenten chided, "She's the most lady-like out of all of us here."

"As I was saying," Yuri continued, "I love art. Sai's a great artist, so that makes him my idol."

"What about my brother and his best friend?" I asked.

"…Their art is…_different_."

I giggled, "I know what you mean. But Sasori's is pretty normal…"

"…"

"Yuri?" Hana questioned. "Are you going to comment on Ino's statement? …Yuri!"

"Why are you guys even doing this…?!" Yuri whined.

Temari tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Because it's fun…?"

"No…" Sakura corrected, "It's fun when you bring up Kiba!"

"I agree!" Tenten declared.

"Come to think of it…" I said. "We never got to finish our game of Torture-Yuri-with-Kiba game because Kankuro busted in here…"

"Let's continue it!" Temari and Hana exclaimed.

"No…!" Yuri protested.

"Besides," Hinata said. "We don't really have anything to do…"

"No! History is repeating itself…!" Yuri wailed.

I shook my head, "Yuri dear, history is _not_ going to repeat itself. If it did, then some random guy's going to pop in and save you from this maltreatment. And that is not going to happen."

She pouted, "I hate all of you…"

Hana grinned wolfishly, "Like what Sakura said earlier, 'hate' is only used to cover up one's true emotions…so you really love us, right…?"

All she received was a glare.

The rest of us – excluding Hinata – laughed as evilly as we could.


	7. Dress Shopping and Hopelessness

Why am I doing a disclaimer when Naruto _obviously_ does not belong to me? Ugh… _**I don't own Naruto. **_Please leave me in peace now….!

**(A/N: If you don't want to read the descriptions of the dresses, skip the stuff that between the two *s)**

Sorry for the long wait! I was trying to think of ideas for my other story, and it took me forever to come up with the dresses…sorry! Hope you guys like it!

Well, onto the story!

I woke up, with sunlight beaming down at me. Hey…where are my lavender colored pillows and blankets…? I blinked a few times to recover my memory before I realized that I was at the Uchiha Castle, bride to be of Uchiha Sasuke. What happened yesterday again…? Right, I met with my friends with Tenten and we decided to torture Yuri with questions regarding Kiba. I smiled at that remembrance. It was one of the few times all seven of had the opportunity to relax and have some fun. Okay, so Yuri probably didn't have any fun…but still! Anything else…? Oh! We have a ball tomorrow so everybody gets introduced! Sai and Naruto better come…I don't want it to be postponed! Wait a second…if there's a ball…then that means…

"Tenten!" I called at the top of my lungs. "We need to go shopping for dresses!"

Tenten, who was residing in the room next to mine since I requested it, yelled back, "What do you mean by 'we'?"

"Just get over here and I'll tell you!"

I heard her grumble about me and stupid balls and even dumber dresses. Then she slid the door open (our rooms were connected that way) and glared at me. For once, her chocolate strands were not in her customary buns on top of her head – they were down and fell over her tan shoulders. "What?" she asked irritably. Right. I forgot about the fact that Tenten loves her sleep, even if she is a servant girl…

I pushed my uneasiness caused by Tenten's murderous glower and sang, "We're going to dress shopping!"

Her glare, if it was even possible, turned even deadlier. "As I questioned before. What in the world do you mean by 'we'?"

I smiled innocently at her, "I thought we went over this already, Tenten."

Tenten's glared slowly transformed into a wide mouthed gape. "…What…?"

I sighed, "Tenten. I'm pretty sure that I was speaking English. You should've understood what I was saying. In case you didn't… I thought we went over this already, Tenten."

She twitched. Oh, good! Her memory's working!

"…Why me…?" she asked quietly to herself.

I tilted my head, my sky blue eyes clearly showing my bewilderment. "What do you mean be that…?"

Tenten gasped softly, as if she was surprised that I heard her. As if I wasn't supposed to hear her. "N-not-thin-g." She replied shakily.

Something is definitely wrong with Tenten. I can feel it in my bones.

Tenten looked down at her fingers that she was playing with and inquired, "Must I go, Ino?"

She has to! But she really seems like she doesn't want to… I need to find what's causing her to act this strangely though…she can't stay in this depression! This isn't Tenten!

"Please…?" I begged softly, desperation etched on my face and in my eyes.

I know she noticed the begging look in my eyes and face. Tenten took a deep breath and calmly answered, "No."

"All the girls will be there…" I pleaded.

Her wall was breaking down. "…No." she whispered, her eyes begging me not to go any further, otherwise she was going to break down and say 'yes'.

I'm sorry, Tenten. I must do this though. I want the old Tenten back. The one was eager to anything with me, the optimistic one, and the one who always brought _me_ out of my misery. Now… it's my turn. You've done so much for me…it's my time to repay you. "Tenten…please come. I'll make sure that nothing happens to you. So will Hana and the rest of the girls. Just please come, Tenten. That's all I request of you."

She stared at me, her eyes asking, Why are you doing this, Ino? While her mouth formed the words, "…I'll go. But you promise that nothing will happen to me, right?"

I shook my head, "I don't promise you that. Promises are meant to be broken, remember? Instead, I give you my word. I _will_ make sure nothing happens to you."

Her lips curved into a smile. As if that could fool me. When Tenten smiles a genuine smile, the smile reaches her eyes, causing them to glitter with happiness. In addition to that, her whole form literally glows and the air around her becomes much brighter. None of that happened. A fake smile was what Tenten gave me.

She kept the pretend smile and her face and declared, "How about we go now?"

It was hard, but I put on a real smile and responded, "Sure, but after we recruit the other girls – the more the merrier!"

"Oh, Tenten, I'm so glad you're going!" Sakura squealed after I announced that Tenten was the special guest that I was going to bring.

"I agree." Hana said. "And don't worry, we'll make sure nothing happens to you."

Yuri rolled her eyes, "Can we shift our focus onto our dresses instead of Tenten? Please?"

Temari laughed, "You're just jealous that Tenten's getting all the attention…!"

"Am not!"

Hinata sighed, "Can we please get on to buying our dresses? It's going to take a long time for Ino and Sakura to find the perfect dress."

Sakura and I protested, "Hey! Hana's going to take a long time too since-"

Hana snorted, "-Itachi's going to be there? No, I don't need to impress him like _that_. I don't think he minds what I wear…"

"Are you saying that he finds you beautiful in whatever you where?" Yuri asked slyly.

Hana blushed a pretty shade of pink before replying, "He's never actually said that…"

"But he's implied it, right…?" Tenten stated. This is good! Tenten's turning back to her old self-!

Hana's blush turned a shade deeper, "Yeah…I guess you could say that…"

"Aww…" Temari cooed. "You two are the cutest couple ever!"

Hana shot a playful glare in her direction.

"Dresses, please!" Sakura whined. "We need to pick out our dresses!"

"…Fine." The rest of agreed in unison.

Did I ever happen to tell you that it is so much easier to find the perfect dress when you're with the future queen? Well, it is. Wherever we went we got the top quality selection of clothes because Hana was with us. Lucky her…even I don't get that kind of treatment at home, and I'm the princess there! Maybe that's because Deidara's older than me…but that's still not fair! So yeah…we're currently selecting Hana's dress right now. Not that she wanted to…we sort of forced her to… We're currently in a store - that is lined with dresses of every design and color-

"Hana!" Sakura exclaimed, seeing the deep sapphire colored dress that she was holding.

Hana turned around, "Hm…?"

"You're not wearing that!" Yuri screeched.

Another good thing – you can scream all you want and you don't get kicked out!

"What's wrong with this dress…?" Hana questioned confusedly.

Tenten inserted her own two cents, "I don't see anything wrong…it's beautiful."

I _have_ to save those two…! "There _is_ nothing wrong with the dress."

If it was even possible, Hana looked even more confused, "If Ino says there's nothing wrong with it, then why can't I try it?"

Yeah…Hana's definitely not made for this stuff… "Be_cause_, blue does not suit you, and nor does the design of the dress!" I exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Then what's my color?"

Yuri, Sakura, and I all face palmed and said at the same time, "Red."

"…Red…?"

Although Yuri usually didn't blow her top over something like this, she was currently near exploding. "Yes, Hana. Red. As in a deep crimson red."

"...Why…?"

Sakura threw up her hands in irritation, "Hana! There is no answer to your 'why?' question! Red is just naturally your color, just like how green is mine, lavender is Hinata's, blue is Ino's, grey/silver is Yuri's, purple is Temari's and Tenten's is a pale or light pink! There's no 'why?'!"

"Okay, okay…" Then Hana's eyes widened in shock.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"Um…behind you?"

We all turned around to see a few guards positioned ready to apprehend Sakura.

"Well?" one of them inquired. "What do wish us to do, Lady Hana, fiancée of Uchiha Itachi, our future king?"

Hana was blinking rapidly as if she was trying to digest the fact that the guards were addressing her. "Please, it is nothing. Let the girl go. She is with me."

The guards looked at each other and nodded, "Whatever you wish, Lady Hana." And then they left and acted as if nothing had happened.

Hana stared at the area where the guards had currently occupied before collapsing into a plum colored velvety chair. "That was _not_ fun."

Tenten grinned – it reached her eyes! – amusedly before saying in a delighted tone, "Get used to it, Lady Hana. This is only the beginning! Just wait until you're actually the Queen!"

A weak glare was shot at Tenten by Hana. "…Be quiet."

Yuri blew her top. "Come on! We need to pick out our dresses! We can't take all day!"

Sakura smirked and shot, "_You_ will take all day to find the perfect dress for Kiba!"

Hinata murmured softly, "Bad idea, Sakura."

Yuri's face flared a brilliant red as she pointed an accusing finger at our pinkette friend. "You-! You know that I don't like Inuzuka! You…!"

"Guys. Stop it. You will not have a fight in the middle of a dress shop. _Please._" Temari ordered.

Sakura shrugged, grinning, "I wasn't planning to."

I resisted the urge to bang my head against the nearest hard thing I could get my hands on. "Can we please pick up our dresses?"

Temari rolled her eyes, "Let's go. We don't want to make Ino angry…"

We left that dress shop and went to another one, one that Queen Mikoto had recommended before we left.

"Okay." Yuri commanded. "Hana, you go look at the red dresses, Hinata at the lavender, green for Sakura, Temari in the purple section-"

"I'm going to go for the blue ones!" I chirped happily. "And Tenten's at the pale pink!"

"Right." Yuri agreed. "And I'm in the silver and grey. Everybody got that?"

Temari nodded, "We all got that. Thing is, we might have to help Hana and Tenten pick out theirs…"

The subjects of the previous sentence protested, "Our taste isn't that bad…!"

"I disagree." I responded as I pointed an accusing finger at Tenten. "Do you _know_ what she picked our for the last ball…? It was _absolutely-_"

"Chill." Sakura said, trying to calm me down. "All we need to do is help them pick out their dresses, and everything will be fine, okay?"

"You guys are _so_ slow!" Yuri complained. "Look – I've already picked out a dress for myself…!"

Temari gaped at her. "You already picked out a _dress…_?"

Yuri nodded. "Yeah! Why do you seem so surprised? It wasn't even that hard…" Then she showed us the dress that she chose. *It was a light grey dress, with a tight corset like top. The sleeves covered were made of the same material as the top until it met her elbow where the material remained silk, but the color changed to a midnight black. As the sleeve continued on, the grey remained the same, but instead of silk there were a few layers of grey organza that stopped at the middle of Yuri's hand. Detailed black embroidery bordered the tip of the dress and the waist. When it hit the waist, the dress instantly flared out in soft silk and landed gently at her feet. More needlework crept up the dress, making it even more beautiful.*

"My…" Hinata breathed, "It's beautiful…"

"I agree." I stated. "It's gorgeous; perfect for you!"

Sakura grinned cheekily, "And it's for Kiba, right?"

Hana restrained Yuri from killing our pink haired friend while Temari rolled her eyes and said, "Way to ruin the moment Sakura."

"I know!"

Hinata sighed softly, "Can we please pick out our dresses? We've been out for almost two hours, and Yuri's the only one that's actually picked one out!"

"Oh…" Sakura smirked slyly, "So you can't wait to pick out a dress for our blue-eyed blonde…"

I shuddered, "You better not be talking about Deidara…"

"You know who I'm talking about!" Sakura retorted.

"Yeah, yeah. I know" I replied casually.

"Guys…" Hinata said.

"Hinata…!" Tenten exclaimed. "You can't keep it a secret!"

"It'll only make things worse – your father and cousin will only grill and kill Naruto more if this drags on."

"But-"

"Hinata!" Temari scolded. "We all thought that you had the most-"

For the first time in her life, Hinata interrupted somebody; "Naruto and I were going to tell my father today once he arrived…"

"Oh…" Yuri said in realization. "So you can set the engagement date?"

"Look at yourself, Yuri." Hana teased.

"Hana?"

She whirled around to meet the face of her fiancée, Uchiha Itachi, who asked, "Have you picked out your dress yet? Mother wants to see all of them and approve it."

Hana ignored Itachi's question and demanded, "Why are you here in the first place? You know you can't see the dress until the ball! Out, out, out!"

Did I ever happen to tell you how odd it is to see the future queen push the future king out of a dress shop who had come along with his companions? Well, I'm telling you right now, it is a _very_ odd sight. And it definitely did not help when the other customers and pedestrians stared at Hana and the older Uchiha.

"Now," Hana ordered, "You and the rest of you guys stay at the castle until we come back, okay?"

Itachi raised and eyebrow, and Hana read that as 'Who are you to order me around?'

"Just leave!"

"But Hana!" Naruto whined, "I wanted to see Hi-"

Temari, who came out of now where, clamped her hand onto the blonde's mouth and hissed at him, "Not in public…!" and pushed him in the direction of Sasuke. "Leave us alone, okay?"

"Fine, fine."

I noticed that someone was missing. "Hey…" I called out. "Where's Prince Neji? Shouldn't he be here if Hinata's here?"

To my utter surprise, Shikamaru turned around and answered, "He said he was going…"

"Then he asked who was going-" Naruto continued.

"We told him, 'Hana, Hinata, Sakura, Temari, Yuri, Ino, and her best friend, Tenten.'" Sai added.

At least Sai's here…

"He didn't show up." Sasuke concluded.

"Oh." I replied. Then I glared. "What are you guys still standing there for? Leave!"

They did. That's a pretty good choice they made…

"We. Need. To. Pick. Out. Dresses." Sakura declared.

I rolled my eyes at her, "Like I didn't know that already…"

We set off.

"Okay," I started when everybody got back to the place that was reserved for our very special Hana and her friends. "Let's take a look at our dresses!"

"Hana's first; she's the next queen!" Yuri demanded.

"Okay, okay…" She murmured. "Let's hope this dress passes Ino's test…it took me forever to find it!"

I looked it over. Good! She picked a red one! *The main parts of the dress were made of deep, crimson red velvet. There weren't really any straps; they were sort of pushed past the shoulders, still connection the long draping sleeves to the other part of the dress. Black embroidery lined the edges of the sleeves, neckline, and tip of the train. Silk that was black criss-crossed at the chest area, binding it tightly together. The waistline dipped into a black, bolded v, which also had black embroidery lining it. Only Hana's fingertips were seen because the long sleeves covered the rest. Like Yuri's dress, the skirt spilled abundantly to the floor.*

"Wonderfully chosen!" Sakura and Yuri congratulated.

"Nice to know that I have two of the judges on my side." Hana muttered jokingly.

I grinned. "The dress is beautiful, Hana. It's good to know that some of the things we taught you finally helped you in some way. By the way, it seems as if you chose the Uchiha colors."

"Yeah…" Hana admitted. "Red and black."

"It's perfect for you," Hinata, Tenten, and Temari agreed.

"Thanks," Hana stated. "Now, who's next?"

"Hinata!" Tenten suggested. "Let's see what our favorite princess chose!"

"Hey! What about me?" I complained.

Temari used her hands to make a shooing motion at me, "Later, later."

Fine. Let them by that way. See if I care.

But I must admit…Hinata's dress was magnificent. *As we said before, her color is lavender, which was the main color of her silk dress. The dress had a box neckline with dark purple needlework of flowers. Like Hana's dress, Hinata's also had long, draping sleeves, but the stream of lavender ended at her wrist. Under the lavender silk was white material that went an inch past it, covering her wrists. Violet embroidery made up the waistline. The silk parted a few inches after hitting the violet embroidery, revealing the white silk underneath that had a purple embroidery bordering the end of it. The two different colored silks flowed down the rest of her body before coming to a soft stop at the floor.*

"Flawless…" Hana whispered.

Hinata flushed a bright shade of red. "You really think so…?"

"Of course we do." Sakura said, answering for the rest of us.

"Oh…! I call next!" Temari exclaimed after Hinata returned to her seat.

"Eager, aren't we?" Yuri asked.

"Be quiet! I only want to get this over with!" she snapped back.

"Okay…"

"Here is mine!" Temari declared proudly. *We all stared at the deep plum colored strapless dress. Intricate white embroidery lined the top and trailed down both sides of her torso, ending at the waist. Her waistline was shone clearly by snow-white embroidery that was stitched boldly at the waist. The bottom of her dress was cut off diagonally; the diagonal cut started at her knee and went down left. White silk replaced the violet silk that was cut off. The white needlework started again at the tip of the purple silk and purple embroidery lined the white silk at the bottom of the dress. In addition to all that, Temari had a white shawl draped over her arms and had a –near black – purple fan in her hand.*

"Hey…" I began.

"What?" Temari question.

I pointed an accusing finger at her. "I thought we were going to go shopping for accessories together!"

She stared at me dryly, "No compliment for me?"

I laughed, "Just playing with you."

Temari looked at me, waiting for her flattering remark.

"…You look gorgeous, Temari." I finally stated.

"Absolutely…" Tenten agreed.

"We all agree with Ino, Temari." Yuri exclaimed. "Next?"

All of rolled our eyes at her eagerness.

"Next is our beloved Sakura, our cherry blossom!" Yuri announced.

Hana sighed before commenting, "You're overdoing it…"

I grinned slyly. "I've heard that your Kiba likes energetic girls…"

Her face flared a brilliant red. "He's not _mine_, and he does _not _like ener-"

"How would you know his taste?" Tenten asked, joining in the fun.

"Becau-"

"Stop, please!" Sakura interrupted. "We can torture Yuri later, okay? Let's get this dress business finished; we've wasted enough time!"

I reluctantly consented, "Fine…"

"Now, here's my dress!" *Like Temari's, Sakura's dress was strapless. The top was the lightest; the color of the dress gradually grew darker and darker until it reached the bottom of the dress, where the green was nearly black, but still green. White silk was tied at the waist and both straps dropped to the floor, which contrasted with the dark green of the bottom part of the dress. Just like all the others before her, Sakura's dress also had embroidery – the embroidery lining the top was the color of the bottom of her dress, and the designs at the bottom of her dress was the color of the top of the dress. As expected, the needlework were flowers, or, more specifically, cherry blossoms. To complete the outfit, Sakura had on a pair of white gloves that went past her elbows.*

"You look magnificent!" I complimented. "Just wait until we get the accessories!"

"We _completely_ agree." The rest of our friends stated.

"Thanks," Sakura said, a light blush on her face.

"Okay." Temari started. "Tenten's turn!"

My dear best friend just glared heavily at her before wailing, "What in the world did I do to deserve this kind of treatment…?"

"It's just a dress." I assured her. "You won't die."

"Easy for you to say." She complied anyway. *Tenten's dress was the palest of all pinks _possible_. When I say pale, I mean _pale._ It was literally white, but it was still obvious that it was pink. Surprisingly, Tenten's dress did not have the sleeves that Hana and Hinata's dress had – the dress had white thick, silk straps that fell off her shoulder and hugged her tan arms. Pure white silk criss-crossed at the center like Hana's dress, but stopped in the middle of her torso. As expected, Tenten's dress also had embroidery – magenta embroidery that bordered the oval neckline and end of the dress. The bottom of the dress remained the same color as the top, but there were random designs of dark pink and white that swirled about. Just like out cherry blossom friend, Tenten wore gloves that were white, but only reached a few inches past her wrist with pink needlework bordering the edge.*

"Well?" Tenten asked nervously. "What do you guys think?"

"Much better then the last dress you chose!" I burst out, unable to hold it in for any longer.

"Gee, thanks." Tenten responded sarcastically.

"Well, I think it suits you perfectly." Hinata said.

"It's not fair!" Yuri complained. "You shouldn't be a servant girl…! You're too pretty!"

We all stared at Yuri as if she had gone delusional. "You're kidding, right?" Hana finally questioned.

"No…why would I?"

We didn't answer. And yes, Yuri is officially hopeless.

"Well…" Temari stated. "It's Ino's turn; the reason why we're all here today!"

"We're here because there's a ball coming up." I retorted.

"And there's a ball because of your marriage with Uchiha Sasuke." Sakura shot back.

"…I hate all of you."

"Ino, I've never seen you this reluctant to try on a dress." Tenten commented.

"I'm not reluctant!" I protested. "You guys are just being mean!"

"Ino…" Hinata warned.

I obeyed they're demands and showed them my dress. *As we made it clear a long time ago, my dress was going to be blue. And it is blue – the blue my eyes are. My sleeves, which clung onto my arms tightly, were the same color as my eyes and stopped at my elbow with jade green lace at the end. The blue part of me dress was split down the middle and revealed green (same as the lace) silk. Sky-blue silk that was connected to the silk that was split at the middle was used to form a criss-cross and pulled the blue silk closer to each other. Around my waist, the same jade green silk was sewn onto the light blue silk, but stopped about half an inch from the edges (so it wouldn't 'touch' the green silk). It was the same for the green needlework at the top and bottom of my dress – both ended half an inch away from the edge.*

I twirled around, giving them a full view of what I looked like in the dress.

"Ino, you look breathtaking," Hana finally stated after the long moment of silence.

"I think you look splendid," Sakura said. "With just the right accessories, we'll have men falling at our feet!"

"…Really, Sakura?" Tenten asked.

"I was just kidding about the last part!" Sakura protested. "Can't you guys be a little bit more humorous?"

"No, not really." Temari answered.

"You guys are no fun!"

"Believe what you want to believe." Hana replied.

"By the way," Hinata, being the savior by changing the subject, said, "I saw you admiring a blue dress with gold designs instead of the jade green. Why'd you change your decision?"

I shrugged. "Gold sort of clashes with my hair…and I've always loved the color of jade green!"

"Oh…"

"Can we go shopping for accessories now…?" Yuri whined.

"Yes, we can." Temari responded. "But we're not going to."

"Then why'd you say 'yes'?" Yuri exclaimed.

"Because you used the word 'can'." I explained before Temari could open her mouth to answer the question.

Yuri, our poor and (as we concluded before) hopeless Yuri remained as confused as ever.

"So what if I used so?"

Tenten was about to response, but Hinata spoke first, "Using the word 'can' in a question is questioning the ability to do something."

My best friend, who was cut off, continued, "In other words, we have the ability to go shopping for accessories, but we're not going to."

Sakura added something on, "Which means you have to use the word 'may' when you're asking permission to do something."

"Or else you'll get the same response you just did from Temari a minute or two ago." Hana finished.

Yuri stared at us blankly before spluttering out the words, "Did we seriously just have a mini grammar lesson…?"

"Yes. Yes we did." I replied.

"Okay then…" Yuri muttered. "If we're not going to go shopping for more accessories, then where are we going to get them?"

Yuri is hopeless. Yuri is hopeless. Yuri is hopeless. Yuri is hopeless. Yuri is hopeless. Yuri is hopeless. Yuri is hopeless. Yuri is hopeless. Yuri is hopeless. Yuri is hopeless. Yuri is hopeless. Yuri is hopeless. Yuri is hopeless. Yuri is hopeless. Yuri is hopeless. Yuri is hopeless. Yuri is hopeless. Yuri is hopeless. Yuri is hopeless. Yuri is hopeless.

Did I mention that Yuri is hopeless?

Judging from the expressions of my fellow companions, I believe they thought the same thoughts that were going around and around in my head. _Yuri is hopeless_. Well, sort of.

Temari and Sakura were breathing deeply; both of them, especially Sakura, are known for their short and scary tempers. I could tell Tenten was trying to resist the temptation of rolling her eyes and Hana was wondering why she was best friends with Yuri. Hinata seemed to be the only calm one of the group. I was trying not to pull my hair out, and hissed, "If we're not going to buy it, we're going use our own."

"Oh…that makes sense."

We sweatdropped.

Oblivious to the tension in the air that she caused, Yuri stated, "So, I take it that we're supposed to be on our way home, then?"

"Yes." Temari managed to ground out. "We're going home now."

How were my descriptions…? Don't be afraid to say they were bad; I think they were terrible! TT^TT Yes, the ball is going to be in the next chapter…sorry!


	8. Preparations

I don't own Naruto. If everybody knows that, then why in the world do I still have to do disclaimers?

Oh, and since I forgot last time….

Mihana Yuri © ChocoKitten

Mihana Yuri © ChocoKitten

Sorry!

A/N: You guys remember the colors of Ino's dress right? It's the colors that are important…the brilliant sky blue and cool jade green. Should remind you of something, right?

You know how I said the ball was supposed to be in this chapter…? Well, it's going to be in the next (I'm really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, _really_, sorry, so please, don't kill me!) I was going to add it, but it just wouldn't flow. . But there is a bit with Sasuke and Ino…

But for now, it's story time!

* * *

_Back at the Uchiha Castle, in Hana's room…_

I had requested – wait, no, ordered – everybody to bring all of their accessories into her room so we could all choose and borrow the ones that fit us the most. Before we choose the garnishing, we _had_ to do our hair!

"No…!" Tenten wailed pitifully. "You guys can't do this to me…!"

I smirked, "As we explained to Yuri before, 'can' is having the ability to do something. So we _can_ do this to you, whether you like it or not."

"I shall not allow it!" Tenten protested.

A grin formed on Sakura's face. "Too bad."

Temari continued on, "We are _so not_ going to let you leave your hair in your customary buns! That will not do!"

"But then everybody will know that it's me!" reasoned Tenten.

Hana's left hand connected with her face and she dragged it down. "Tenten…! You're the hopeless one now! The whole point of you not putting up your hair into the two buns is so that people _won't_ recognize you! Think of this – "

Hinata cut in, effectively stopping Hana from launching onto her ultimate rant mode, "It's so you can go into the ball and just be someone entirely different, Tenten. You won't be Tenten, the lady-in-waiting of Princess Ino – you'll just be Tenten, a woman for tonight. Okay?"

"Besides, think of all the fun you'll have! You look like a real lady – even a princess – and nobody will suspect that you're actually sort of part of the servant world!" Yuri added on.

Tenten gazed into all of our pleading eyes before giving in, "…Fine…I won't put my hair into my buns…have your way."

I was expecting more of a fight from her. She totally blew up on me the other time I asked her if I could do something different with her hair. It took nearly two hours to convince her! But now…

"Come on Tenten!" Yuri whined, bringing me out of my thoughts. "You said that you would consent to our desires…!"

While resisting Yuri's attempts to drag her to the mirror, Tenten grumbled, "I never said that I would consent to your desires. I just said that I wouldn't put my hair in buns. There's a huge difference, okay?"

"Not to me!"

"Tenten," Temari stated as calmly as she could, "Just go along with it, okay? Besides, you already agreed to it."

Tenten glared half-heartedly at our teal-eyed friend. "But only leaving my hair down, okay? No more then that."

My hand connected with my face, just as Hana's did earlier. "Tenten! This is exactly what happened five minutes ago! You really want me to endure this…?"

She glanced at me before responding, "Yes. Yes I do."

Hana, being the smart one, and Hinata, being the sensible one, realized that this was extremely hopeless, so they whisked into Hana's gigantic dressing room to touch up on their appearances, leaving us to deal with Tenten. Curse those two, leaving me with the wrath of my best friend.

Because of the fact that the people who were left – Temari, Sakura, and Yuri – were not making any progress in making Tenten do as they wish, I decided to take over. I glared heavily at Tenten, with my hands resting at my hips. "Tenten."

She gazed back at me innocently. "Yes?"

My sky-blue eyes narrowed. "The rest of us are going to finish our outfits, okay? We're going to leave you here to work on your hair. By the time the first person gets back, you _will _have your hair in a completely different style. Understand?"

Tenten's eyes darkened. "No."

"Ugh, Tenten!" Yuri exclaimed. "We've wasted so much time on you! We only have an hour! One hour! _One!_ So will you please –"

Tenten cut her off. "I'll do it, I'll do it. Just leave me alone and do _not_ make any comments or suggestions when you see it!"

The rest of us agreed to her terms – like Yuri pointed out, we already wasted so much time on her.

* * *

"Oh, you got Tenten to agree?" Hana inquired as we entered her dressing room.

Yuri shook her head as Sakura answered, "Got her to compromise…"

"She's too stubborn for her own good," I muttered darkly under my breath.

"Come on; cheer up," Hinata advised with a soft smile on her face. "At least she did part of what you wanted, right?"

Temari rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Leave it to our innocent Hinata to be optimistic like that."

"Our hair, our hair!" I suddenly wailed. "We still haven't done a _thing_ with our hair!"

"Like we haven't noticed that," Sakura commented mildly.

"Be quiet," I retorted lamely as I searched around for a hairbrush.

"Now…how should I do my hair…?" I mused quietly to myself while being accidentally pushed and shoved by my friends who shifted around to make themselves' comfortable or hunt for an item that they desired. Hana's dressing room/closet may be big, but with the five of us in here, it was a little crowded. Especially if I consider that fact that about half of us are attempting to do something with our hair…that results in getting jabbed by intimidating elbows when the owner of the elbows moved when she was currently in the process of working with her hair. In simpler terms, it was a bit…stuffy.

And I, Yamanaka Ino, did not like stuffy or crowded places.

"I'm relocating; it's a bit squished in here…" I announced to my fellow Princesses and Ladies.

Temari stifled a yawn before asking, "Where are you going to relocate to, though? Tenten's outside in front of the vanity mirror, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't want any company."

"Then where do I go?" I whined in a very unprincess-y way.

"Stay here?" Yuri suggested brightly.

"It's stuffy!"

While Yuri continued to ramble random places of where I could go, I turned to Hana and asked, "Well? Is there any place I can go that's in your room?"

She stared at me oddly before responding, "Why?"

"It's _stuffy!_"

"Just deal with it!" Sakura snapped. Well, it seems as if I finally got her to lose her patience…

"But it's _stuffy!_"

Hinata finally decided to help her distressed blonde friend; me. She turned to Hana and asked, "You have one of those dressing screens, right?"

"Yeah, I do," Hana replied absentmindedly as she combed her brown tresses. "But I'm not exactly sure where they're located…ask one of the servants or maids. They should know."

I stared at Hinata. She didn't seem to be the type to do something suspicious or evil like me (yes, I admit it!), Sakura, Temari, Hana, and Yuri – pretty much the rest of us! – so I don't think I should be doubting her actions…

Hinata seemed to notice my questioning look and answered, "It's to put a barricade between you and Tenten…"

Ah. Clever idea.

* * *

We _finally _managed got our hands onto a good number of dressing screens to use as a wall between Tenten and I. She threw a few fits before agreeing with the idea. On one condition – that the dressing screens were thick enough so that I couldn't see her silhouette from my side…

"Haah," I sighed as I seated myself upon a stool. What in the world should I put my hair into…?

* * *

Once we were done with our hair, we took down the dressing screens and compared what we did. We approved of Tenten's (she sighed a great sigh of relief) and got our accessories. We were in the middle of admiring Temari's new fan (she found a new one; she didn't like the almost-black-purple one. The one that she currently held was creamy, yet ivory colored with three purple circles spaced equally across it) when I suddenly remembered that I still had to talk to my _betrothed_ about something.

"I'm going to tell ask my fiancé something, okay?"

"Sure," Hana replied. "Be back as soon as you can though!"

"Don't worry; I will."

"See you then!"

* * *

"Sasuke, we need to talk," I said as soon as I entered his chambers,

He stared at me before replying, "If you didn't want to talk, then why did you come here?"

"Oh, be quiet."

"Well?"

My eyes narrowed as I looked at my betrothed. "'Well?' what?" I asked irritably.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Oh, _that!_" I exclaimed when I suddenly remembered why I was currently in the presence of my fiancé. "I wanted to ask you something."

Sasuke stared at me.

"What?"

His sigh was an annoyed one. "It meant for you to continue."

"I knew that."

"…"

"Right! Going on!"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"I'm not going to survive another second with you if you remain this unresponsive," I grumbled under my breath.

Sadly, Sasuke's sharp ears heard my complaint. "If that's the case, I might as well remain silent after finishing this statement so you _do_ die, freeing me from this arranged marriage."

I glared at him. "I hate you."

Once again, Sasuke sighed. "Just ask your question."

"Don't announce the guests."

Yes, I know that wasn't a question, but bear with me!

Choke. "What?"

"I said, 'Don't announce the guests.' Did I happen to speak in a language that you don't happen to understand? If that's that case, then I'm very sorry. Because I only have the ability to speak English."

This time, Sasuke shot a dirty look at me before answering, "I perfectly comprehended what you said a few seconds ago."

"Well, that's great," I got up from the armchair and started to make my way to the door.

Just as my hand was about to touch the doorknob, the word, "Wait," left Sasuke's mouth and met my ears. I turned around to face him. "What?" I still needed to get back to the girls to make sure nothing went wrong. Hopefully, Sakura has it all under control.

"Why?"

"'Why?' what?"

"Why," Sasuke started, his voice tense (probably from attempting to keep his anger from unleashing, courtesy of me not getting straight to the point when I knew what he wanted answered.) "do you not want us to announce the guests?"

"Is there a reason that we should?"

A one-word answer. "Danger."

"Is your brain functioning properly, Sasuke?" I questioned as I resisted the urge to reach over and feel his forehead to see if he suddenly caught a fever or something. "Why in the _world_ would there be danger?"

"We won't know who the guests are – assassins and such could sneak in easily."

I just barely managed to refrain myself from calling the Uchiha with the odd hairdo an _idiot_ and the need to thwack him on the head. "How in the _world _(yes, I know I am partially repeating myself, but deal with it!) are murderers and all that going to get _in_ the castle in the first place?"

"By slipping in via disguises?"

My hands was itching to grab the innocent book that rested on his nightstand so I could use it as a weapon to inflict harm upon my beloved and _absolutely _brilliant husband-to-be. "Are the defenses and security of the Uchiha Castle really that low?" I continued on even though I noticed that he opened his mouth to speak. "Besides, I was thinking that we could've had a person waiting at the door of the ballroom to 'check people in' with a guest list. You go in, tell them your name, and they check it off. Can't really get in if your name isn't on the list." When I met Sasuke's doubtful stare, I asked, "You guys _did_ make a guest list, right?"

"…"

"Oh my dear lord, if you did _not_ make a guest list, I'm going to…to…!"

"You're going to what?" Sasuke inquired with a slightly, _slightly_, amused expression on his face.

"I'm going to _kill _you!"

A dark eyebrow was raised. "Really?"

I hate that bastard. "Ugh, not literally! But if you _didn – "_

"When did I ever say I didn't make one?"

"If you were actually paying attention and listening to what I was saying, you would've realized I was using, 'if'!"

"…"

"So," _Tap._ Went my foot. "Did you make one or not? I really dislike wasting minutes of life, you know."

It certainly seems as if my fiancé is smart enough to not dawdle any longer, for that would unleash my already-about-to-burst temper. And that would not be good for anybody within five miles of me.

"I didn't make one."

_That piece of…!_ "Hm. Really."

"…Itachi did."

"…"

"…"

"YOU HAD YOUR BROTHER MAKE THE GUEST LIST EVEN THOUGH THE BALL WAS NOT THROWN FOR HIM AND/OR HANA? ARE YOU _INSANE? _WHAT KIND OF A YOUNGER BROTHER ARE YOU? EVEN I WOULDN'T DO THAT TO DEIDARA (not that he'd do it anyway…), AND I'M PRETTY SURE THAT ITACHI IS INFINITY TIMES MORE BETTER THAN HIM! BUT _NO_, YOU HAVE TO GO AND MAKE YOUR WONDERFUL (I think) OLDER BROTHER DO IT EVEN THOUGH THIS IS BECAUSE OF _OUR_ ENGAGEMENT! I DON'T CARE AT ALL IF I'M JUST REPEATING MYSELF A BUNCH OF TIMES! THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE COMING, SCRATCH THAT, THERE'S MORE THAN A LOT! AND YOU STILL HAVE ITACHI DO IT HIMSELF! BY _HAND! _WHAT KIND OF A HEARTLESS HUMAN ARE YOU? WAIT, SCRATCH THAT AGAIN! I DON'T EVEN THINK YOU _ARE_ HUMAN, UCHIHA SASUKE! JUST SAYING YOUR NAME FEELS WRONG! AND CALLING YOU A BEAST WOULD BE _WAY_ TO NICE FOR YOU!YOU EVIL… EVIL… WICKED… MONSTROUS… VILLAINOUS… MALICIOUS… VICIOUS… DESPICABLE… TERRIBLE… HORRIBLE… _EBIL _THING! ONCE AGAIN, EVEN _THING_ IS _MUCH_ TO PLEASANT TO USE AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR YOU! I DON'T SEE A SINGLE THING THAT SAKURA AND ALL THE MAIDS SEE IN YOU! OH MY DEAR GODS UP THERE, _WHY_ AM I _ENGAGED_ TO _THAT_…! TO TELL THE TRUTH, I HAVE COMPLETELY _NO_ IDEA WHATSOEVER TO BACK UP MY REASON FOR STILL BEING IN THE PRESENCE OF _THIS_…! "

From the looks of it, I've just deafened my darling future husband. _Sniff_. Good for him. He _freakin' _deserved it. (I know, I shouldn't be using such language, but blame Deidara and his influence on my and blame the _thing – _still too nice – for pushing me to go this far.) I spun around and pretty much pirouetted out his door. Good riddance! Well, I do hope he got the message to not announce the guests…if he _does_ happen to announce them…oh, may the lords and gods up there help him for I will not be the only one killing him.

* * *

"Back already?"

I shot a glare at the man I had previously deafened. "I forgot to ask you something."

"…"

"I hate you. Anyways, how in the world are we supposed to act?"

"What do you mean?"

"During the ball! How are we supposed to act as a couple during the ball?" I asked, waving my hands around in frenzy. "It's already bad enough that your mother pops into my room or appear at the places I happen to be at to ask about my relationship with you so far? Questions like, 'Hold hands yet?' and even, 'What is the longest time you guys have kissed for?' come from her mouth, and creeps the heck out of me!"

"Is the _really my_ problem?"

"It will be!"

Sigh. "Since the ball is thrown for us – "But you still made Itachi make the guest list!" – we're doing the opening dance. You do realize that, right?"

"This isn't my first time going to a ball, you know."

"Whatever."

"…"

Sasuke took my silence as a cue for him to continue, and he did. "Considering the fact that my dear mother as been harping about that things that do not exist between us, I think we're going to have to put on a little show for her."

I interjected before he could explain his scheme to me. "As if I didn't know that already."

Glare. "Anyways, because it seems that my mother wants 'action' between the two of us, we'll hold hands, act smitten with each other, and you'll have to kiss me."

"…"

"…"

"ARE YOU FREAKIN' INSANE? WHY IN THE WORLD DO I HAVE TO KISS YOU – THE (INSERT WORD) THAT CAN'T EVEN BE DESCRIBED WITH WORDS! IF I _DO_ KISS YOU, I'LL PROBABLY END UP GETTING MAULED/MURDERED BY YOUR OBSESSIVE FANGIRLS CONSISTED OF THE MAJORITY OF ALL THE MAIDS IN THE WORLD EVEN THOUGH I HAPPEN TO BE A PRINCESS, AND _THEY_ WOULD GET KILLED BY MY BROTHER FOR KILLING ME! AND I DON'T REALLY CARE IF THAT HAPPENED TO BE A RUN-ON SENTENCE, OKAY! (That was directed at my friends who probably heard my screeching, even though the walls are supposed to be pretty sound proof.) AND WHY IN THE WORLD DO I HAVE TO DO WHAT YOU SAY, HUH? IS IT BECAUSE YOU'RE _THE_ UCHIHA SASUKE, WITH OVER A MILLION – I TAKE THAT BACK – A _BILLION_ GIRLS SMITTEN WITH YOU? WELL, MY _DEAR_ FIANCÉ, I AM (now) NOT ONE OF THOSE BILLION GIRLS! DO YOU THINK I EVEN WANT TO BE IN THE PRESENCE OF YOU, CONSIDERING WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST NOT EVEN TEN MINUTES AGO? DO YOU – "

"YAMANAKA INO!"

Whoops.

"WHAT BUSINESS DO YOU HAVE IN THERE THAT ALLOWED YOU TO DEAFEN ALL THE PEOPLE IN THE UCHIHA CASTLE WHO ARE NOT INTELLIGENT ENOUGH TO BRING EAR-PLUGS?"

"_Sorry,_ Deidara," I apologized in a very sarcastic voice when I opened the door to semi-glare at him. He had stopped my second tirade and the process of (once again) rendering my _darling _future husband deaf. Screw him.

He just rolled his eyes and stated, "Keep your voice down, okay?"

_Slam_.

"Now, where were we?" I asked the younger Uchiha sweetly.

He winced as his hands reached up to touch his now damaged ears. "You jumped to conclusions."

_WHAT?_ I managed to keep my calm composure and questioned, just as sweetly as before, "What do you mean by that?"

"I never told you_ where _you would be kissing me."

Gawk.

The man in front of me rolled his obsidian eyes (what in the world is with people and rolling their eyes at me?) and went on, "I was going to tell you to kiss me on the cheek, and I would kiss on the forehead. Is that _really_ that bad?"

"…"

"…"

"I hate you."

"I take that as a yes."

"Oh, just be quiet."

"So, you're going along with it, right?"

"…I hate you."

"…I get the point."

"…"

"…"

"…I'm leaving."

"Hn."

I hate him.

* * *

A/N: Oh, poor Sasuke…XD He should be extremely grateful that Ino is a princess and only curses in her mind…


End file.
